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A LIFE 



OP 



(jLEMENT L. \ ALLANDIGHAM. 



BY HIS BROTHER, 



Kev. JAMES L. VALLAXDIGHAM. 




BALTIMOEE : 
T U Pt K B U L L B E O T H E E S , 

8 XoKTH Chakles Stkeet. 
1872. 



3 



;^3'f^ 



£1415 

■VgVs 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1ST2, by 

TURXBULL BROTHERS, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




oo]^te:xts 



CHAPTER I— AxcESTKY. 

J 'AGE 

First Ancestor in this Country — Great-Grandfather — Grandfatlier — 

Father — Maternal Grandfather— Mother, .... 1 

CHAPTER II— Birth akd Eakly Days. 

Nativity — First School — School Companions— Studious Habits— 
A Good Shot and a Successful Fisherman — The Discomfited 
Joker — Adventure on the Eastern Shore of Maryland — 
Reminiscence of Rev. C. Y. McKaig — A Characteristic Com- 
position, 'J 

CHAPTER III— College Life. 

A Student of Jefferson College— Principal of Union Academy in 
Snow Hill— Letter of Judge Franklin— Letter of Irving 
Spence, Esq.— Re-enters College— Chosen Debater of the 
Franklin Society— Rules for Moral Culture— Difficulty with 
the President of the College — Demands and Receives an 
Honorable Dismission— Commences the Study of Law — 
The Contest at College— Tribute of the Rev. F. T. Brown, D.D. 
— Recollections of the Hon. Sberrard Clemens — Offered his 
Diploma, 1^ 

CHAPTER IV — Entkaxce on Political akd Professional Cai!kei:. 

First Political Speech — Speech at New Middletown — Discussion 
with the Whigs— Rencounter on the Streets of New Lisbon— 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ills First Speech to a Jury while a Student of Law— Ad- 
mitted to the Bar— First Speech after Admission— Great 
Success as a Lawyer— Fixed Rules, 83 

CHAPTER V— In the Legislature of Ohio. 

Elected a Representative— Rules for Conduct as a Legislator- 
First Speech— Report on the Eligibility of Officers of the 
State Bank to a Seat in the Legislature— Report on Legis- 
lative Districts — Speech on the Bill to Repeal the Ohio 
State Bank Act — Speech on the Sanctity of Cemeteries — 
Speech on the Tax Bill— The True Statesman Delineated — 
His First Vote — Courtesy to Opponents — Canvass of the 
County for Re-nomination — Nominated and Elected — His 
Marriage — Second Session in the Legislature — Unanimously 
Supported for Speaker by his Party — Resolutions and Speecli 
on the Mexican War— The TVilmot Proviso — Votes to Reject 
Petitions for Dissolution of the Union — Popular Education — 
The Black Laws — His Reputation as a Legislator — Declines 
a Re-nomination, 39 

CHAPTER VI— Removal to Dattox, .:\:n-d Editokship of the 

" Ejipike." 

Takes up his Residence in Dayton — Becomes Law-Partner of T. 
J. S. Smith, Esq. — Editor of the Empire — His Salutatory Ad- 
dress — Editorial on Politics and the Pulpit — Editorial on 
Dorrism — Valedictory— Candidate for Judge, oo 

CHAPTER VII— Events froji ISoO to 1855. 

Abolitionism — Compromise of ISoO— Meeting in Dayton Opposed 
to it — Meeting in its Favor — Letter of Judge Crane — Reso- 
lutions-Mr. Vallandigham a Warm Friend of the Compro- 
mise — Candidate for Nomination for Lieutenant-Governor — 
First Nomination for Congress — Fails of Election — Journey 
Through Virginia and Maryland— Nominated for Congress 



CONTENTS. V 

PAGE 

in 1854 — Knownothingism or Americanism — Charged "vritk 
Being a Elnownothing — Defeated — Speech on Abolitionism 
in 1855, Gl 

CHAPTER yin— Elzctiox to Co^fCREss ik 1856, a>-b Coxtest 
FOR THE Seat. 

dominated for Congress by Acclamation — Result of the Election — 
Notice of Contest — The Ohio RebeUion— 3Ir. Tallandigham's 
Argument before the T. S. District Court— The Result- 
Prosecution of the Contest before Congress — Report in his 
Favor — Adoption of the Report and Admission to his Seat — 
Again dominated and Elected — Speech on the Impeachment 
of Judge Watrous — Speech on the Tariff — The John Brown 
Raid — 3Ir. Tallandigham's Letter in Regard to it — Excite- 
ment in the Country-, ........ 83 

CHAPTER IX— Thirty- Sixth Coxgress. 

Meeting of Congress — Helper's Book — Attempt to Elect a Speaker- 
Mr. Tallandigham's Speech — Speaker Elected — Free Trans- 
mission of Xewspapers — The Hour Rule — Arming the State 
Militia — Goes to Charleston — Incident There — Letter to his 
Brother — Tisits Home — Speaks at Detroit — Re-elected to Con- 
gress — Card to the Enquirer — 2d Session of Congress — Letter 
to his Wife — Speech in Congress — !Mr. Sickles on Coercion — 
Border State Meeting — Central Confederacy — Serenade and 
Speech — Tisits Richmond — Letter to his "Wife — Another 
Letter — Amendment to the Constitution — Misrepresented — 
Tote on the Compromise Measures — Denunciation and Reply 
— His Personal Peril — Private Circular — Letter to his Con- 
stituents, 127 

CHAPTER X— Thirtt-Sevexth Coxgress. 

Meets on the 4th of July — Tiolent Excitement — Mr. T. speaks on 
Executive Usurpation — Affair at Camp L'pton — Favors Equal 
Rights to the Jews— Tol. Army Bill- The Crittenden Resolu- 
tion — Military Academy Bill — Convention of the States — 



VI COjSiTENTS. 

PAGE 

Seizure of Mason and Slidell— Surrender of Mason and 
Slidell— Legal Tender Bill— Hickman's Assault and Repulse- 
Retort on Wade— Attempted Censure — Greeley Petitions- 
Democratic Address— A Lull in the Storm— Bursts Again— 
Threatened Arrest— Speech at Dayton— Renominated for 
Congress— Defeated, and the Cause— Cane Presentation- 
Jubilee Meetings— Meeting of Congress— Resolutions— Speech 
of Jan. 14 — New Party— Debate on Conscription, . 1(14 

CHAPTER XI— TnE Arkest. 

Congress Adjourns— Mr. V. speaks in Philadelphia— In New York— 
In Connecticut — His Welcome Home — Military Orders — 
Speech at Hamilton — Letter to Mr. Sanderson — Speech at 
Columbus — Meeting at Mt. Vernon — Account by Mr. Irvine — 
In the Banner — In the Crisis — Rumors of Intended Arrest — 
Assault on his House — Carried to Cincinnati and Imprisoned 
— E.xcitement in Dayton — Letter from the Prison, . . 2;31 

CHAPTER XII— Trial, &c. 

OfBccrs of the Commission — Charge and Specification — Examin- 
ation of Witnesses — Mr. Vallandigham's Protest — Finding 
and Sentence — Character of the Commission — Habeas Corpus 
— The Result — Indignation Meetings — At Albany — In Xew 
York City — In Philadelphia— Effect of These — Application to 
the Supreme Court, 202 

CHAPTER XIII— Exile and Political Campaign op 18G:i 

Mr. V. on the Gunboat Exchange — Parting Address — Interview witli 
Gen. Rosecrans — Carried to the Confederate Lines — Incident 
at Shelbyville — Discussion about Receiving Him in the Con- 
federacy — The Democratic Convention at Columbus — Mr. V. 
Nominated for Governor — Resolutions — Committee to Wait 
on the President — Their Letter — The Result — Comments 
Thereon — Mr. V. Leaves the South for Canada— Narrowly 
Escapes Capture — Reception in Canada — Speech at Montreal 
—Arrives at Niagara Falls— Address to the Democracy of 



/ 



CONTENTS. vii 

PAGE 

I Ohio— Enthusiastic Political Meetings in Ohio— Goes to 

Windsor— Reception— Letter to the Dayton Meeting— An- 
other Letter— Vallandigham's Birthplace— The Result of the 
Election — Defeated by Fraud— Mr. V.'s Letter Thereon— 
Letter to his Wife— Visit of the Students of the University of 
Michigan— Address to Them— Manner of Life in Exile, . 29G 

CHAPTER XIV— Retuen from: Bakishment. 

Attempts to Return, and Fails— Letter of Dr. Walters— Telegram 
of Mr. P.— Note of Mr. V.— His Disguise— Crosses the River, 
and Enters the Cars— Narrowly Escapes Arrest- Reaches 
Hamilton— His Reception— Letter of Mr. McMahon— His 
Address— His Welcome by the Democracy— Intends to Stay- 
Illness of His Mother, and Letter to Her— Letter on Her 
Death— Speaks in Dayton— In Syracuse, New York— Attends 
the Convention at Chicago— Supports McClellan in the 
Campaign, :j47 

CHAPTER XV— Partisan Proscription and the Sons of Liberty. 

Evil Passions Engendered by the War— Regrets since Expressed by 
Republicans— Mr. V. Proscribed- Arbitrary Arrests— Free- 
dom of Speech and of the Press Assailed— Organization of 
the Sons of Liberty— Mr. V. Solicited to Join Them, but 
Refuses— Again Applied to, and Consents— Object of the 
Organization— Mr. V. made Grand Commander— Prevents 
Abuse of the Order— Denounces the Attempt to Pervert It — 
His Speech at Peoria, Illinois, 369 

CHAPTER XVI— Patriotism and Love of the Union. 
A United States Man— False Charges of Disloyalty— Testimony of 
Mr. McCullough— Of Rev. Dr. Brown— Sentiments of Promi- 
nent Republicans— Mr. V.'s Views— Opposition to the War— 
This Not Disloyal— Illustrated — Testimony of Gen'l Ward- 
Of New York Herald— Not Influenced by Southern Sympathy 
—Not Regarded by the South as a Friend of Her Cause— 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Honest and Sincere — Letter to His Brother — To Mr. Perham 
— Reasons for Opposing the War — The "War Unconstitutional 
— Could be Averted — War a Great Evil — Especially a Civil 
War — Relatives in Both Armies — War Could Not Restore the 
Union — Denunciation of Abuses of Power, .... 38G 

CHAPTER XVII— Events froji 18Go to 1870. 

Effort for Peace — Letter to Greeley — Incident in Dayton— Death of 
President Lincoln — Letter to the Young Men's Democratic 
Association of Lancaster — President of the State Convention 
— President Johnson and the Radicals — Philadelphia Conven- 
tion — The Canvass of 1867 — Speech at Mt. Vernon— Letter of 
Mr. McCulloch — Senatorial Contest — Democratic National 
Convention of 1868 — His Nomination for Congress — The 
Canvass, and the Result — Devotes Himself to the Law — Con- 
gressional Election of 1870, and Speech of Hon. L. D. Camp- 
bell — Mr. V.'s Speech to the Colored People, . . . 403 

CHAPTER XVIII— The New Dep.uittjre. 

The Montgomerj' County Meeting — Speech of Mr. Ilouk — The Reso- 
lutions — Speech of Mr. Vallandigham — The Manner in which 
the Movement was Received — Letter of Judge Chase — Ex- 
tracts from Different Papers — Ojjposition to the New Depar- 
ture — Defence by its Friends — Motives of Mr. Vallandigham 
— His Last Political Speech, 436 

CHAPTER XIX— Habits of Study, and Mental Discipline. 

Early Studious Habits — Letter of the Hon. S. Clemens — Extracts 
from Letters to his Brother — His Theological Acquirements — 
Letter from the Commercial — Mr. V. a Fine Writer — Letter on 
the Training of his Son — Remarkable Interview with Colonel 
Key, 452 

CHAPTER XX — Social and Domestic Chakactek. 

Illustrated — Letter to his Brother James — To his Sister — New 
Lisbon and the Old Homestead — Letter to his Brother — To 



CONTENTS. IX 

PAGE 

the same — Sympathy for Friends in Trouble — Letter to 
his Sister-in-law — Deeds of Kindness — Letter to his Mother — 
To his Brother— Slander Refuted— Extracts from several 
Letters to his Mother — Letter on the Death of his Child — 
Social Qualities — Personal Appearance— Letter to his Wife — 
To his Son— Recollections of his Cousin, Mrs. Egbert, . . 463 

CHAPTER XXI— Religious Characteb. 

Early Religious Training — Religious Element of his Character — 
Not Obtrusive — No Bigot — Letter to his Brother James — 
Another Letter to the same — Note from his Mother — Letter 
to his Mother — To his Brother — Becomes a Communicant 
in the Presbyterian Church — Letter of Rev. J. H. Brookes, 
D. D. — Withdraws from the Church, and the Cause — Attends 
the Lutheran Church — Letter of Rev. D. Steck — Letter to 
his Sister Margaret — Remarks Thereon — Letter to his Brother 
— To his Mother — To the same — Letter of the Rev. John 
Haight — Letter on the Death of his Sister-in-law, . . . 493 

CHAPTER XXII— His Death. 

The Town of Lebanon— The Alleged Crime of McGehan— The 
Trial — The Fatal Accident to Mr. V. — Account from the 
Enquirer — From the Commercial — How the News was 
Received in Dayton — Remains Brought to Dayton, . . 515 

CHAPTER XXIII— The Funeral. 

Great Concourse — Universal Sorrow — Service at the House — The 
Procession — Service at the Grave — Interesting Incident — The 
Death of Mrs. Vallandigham, 536 

CHAPTER XXIV— Tributes to his Memory. 

Meeting of the Dayton Bar — Remarks of Judge Lowe — Of Hon. P. 
Odlin— Speech of Senator Thurman— Of Hon. S. S. Cox— Of 
Gen'l McCook— Of Hon. L. D. Campbell— Remarks of G. W. 
Houk, Esq., and Resolutions — Meeting at Cincinnati — Speech 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

of Hon. W. S. Groesbeck — The Press on his Death— Boston 
Post — Chicago Tribune — Cincinnati Volksblatt — Cincinnati 
Volksfreund — New York Sun — Cincinnati Enquirer — Eulogy 
of Hon. George H. Pendleton— Of S. W. Gilson, Esq.— 
Tribute of Hon. J. W. Wall, 544 



PEEFACE 



To write the biography of a near and beloved relative is 
a difficult and delicate task. This task I have with much 
diffidence attempted, and I feel very imjjerfectly performed. 
From my own personal and intimate knowledge of the de- 
ceased ; from his letters and speeches ; and from the recollec- 
tions of many who were long acquainted with him: I have 
endeavored faithfully to delineate his character. 

To the friends who have aided me by furnishing facts, in- 
cidents, and recollections, I return my grateful acknowledg- 
ments. 

To my son, James L. Vallandigham, Esq., of Hamilton, 
Ohio, I am under special obligations, particularly in the polit- 
ical part of the work. 

I am also indebted to the daily and weekly papers for much 
valuable information. These newspapers, edited as they gen- 
erally are by men of ability and culture, with their intelligent 
correspondents, devoting themselves to the business of collecting 
and recording with fullness and minuteness events from day 
to day as they occur, are the rich repositories to which bio- 
graphers and historians must necessarily resort to obtain much 
of the material needed in the performance of their literary 
labors. 



Xll P K E F A E . 

From this source I have gathered information that could 
be obtained from no other. 

Should this volume prove acceptable, it may be followed 
by another — a small one — containing Mr. Vallandigham's 
Lecture on the Bible, and selections from his letters and 
speeches. 

I regret that I have not been able to prepare a more worthy 
memorial of one admired for his talents, honored for his 
integrity, and loved for his amiability with the warmest 
aifection. 

J. L. Vallandigham. 
New Ark, Del., Dec. 20, 1871. 



A LIFE 



Clement L Yallandigham. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANCESTRY. 

The ancestors of Clement L. Yallandigham were, on 
the paternal side, Huguenots ; on the maternal, Scotch-Irish. 
From the family records, which have been made uj) with much 
Gire and after thorough investigation, and are believed to be 
accurate, we gather the following. 

The family came from French Flanders. The original 
name was Van Landeghem ; and some of the name lived 
near Courtrai 570 years ago. They were knights then, and 
one of them commanded a body of knights under the " Lion 
of Flanders," at the battle of the " Golden Spurs," fought near 
Courtrai in 1302. 

Michael Yan Landeghem and Jane his wife, who were 
probably the first of the name who came to this country, lived 
in Stafford County, Yirginia, in 1690. They afterwards re- 
moved to what was then Northumberland County, between the 



2 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Rappahannock and Chesapeake Bay. There their son INIichael 
was born in 1705. This son, prior to 1738, removed to Fair- 
fax County, not far from Alexandria, where he became a lessee 
of Lord Fairfax. He married Miss Anne Dawson of Nor- 
thumberland County. It was during his life that, for more 
agreeable sound and easier pronunciation, the name was 
changed from Yan Landeghem to Vallandigham. 

Michael and Anne Vallandigham had five children, 
three sons and two daughters. Geoege, the youngest son 
(the grandfather of the subject of this memoir), was born about 
the year 1736, near Alexandria, Virginia. Having received a 
good education, he spent several of his earlier years in teaching 
as Principal of various High Schools and Academies in Vir- 
ginia and Maryland, meantime studying law and being admitted 
to the bar. During this period of his life, as well as subse- 
quently, he pursued also the avocation of surveyor. About 
1768 he obtained an appointment as Principal of an Academy 
in Prince George's County, Maryland, where he resided several 
years, marrying meantime (about 1771) Miss Elizabeth 
Noble, daughter of Mr. Joseph Noble, of the same county. 
About 1774, accompanied by several families, his wife's rela- 
tives, he crossed the Alleganies to the country around Fort Pitt, 
and selected and purchased a thousand acres of excellent land, 
on Robinson's Run, then in Youghiogany County, Virginia, 
but now in Allegany County, Pennsylvania. In the many 
conflicts with the Indians which occurred at that time and in 
that region, he took an active part. From Lord Dunmore he 
received the rank and title of Colonel, and was with Dunmore 
in the expedition against the Chillicothe towns in 1774. He 
was with Colonel Broadhead in the expedition up the Allegany 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. V ALLAN DIGH AM. 3 

in 1779, and also with the same officer in the expedition against 
the Delawares, on the Muskingum, in 1781. In his civil 
capacity also he occupied a high and useful position in society. 
He labored faithfully and extensively in his vocation as sur- 
veyor, was for many years a Justice of the Peace, and between 
the years 1780 and 1800 pursued the practice of law in Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania, and Wellsburg, Virginia. 

Against the famous "Whisky Insurrection" of 1791-4, he 
bore an active part, and suffered persecution accordingly. He 
disapproved, indeed, of the excise, but thought violent and 
armed resistance an improper and inexpedient mode of opposi- 
tion. He advocated remonstrance and repeal effected by 
peaceable means, and accordingly, by way of example, drew up 
and circulated a remonstrance against the law. He attended 
and addressed various meetings of the citizens, and though 
threatened with personal violence and the burning of his house 
and barns, and the destruction of his other property, hesitated 
not to avow his utter opposition to the rash and violent meas- 
ures proposed and adopted. His courage and fearless honesty 
commanded respect, and though acting also officially in his 
capacity of Justice against the insurgents, he escaped without 
harm. Some years afterwards he was a candidate for Congress, 
and partly from hLs opposition to the insurrection, and jjartly 
because he refused to furnish the customary barrel of whisky to 
the electors, suffered an honorable defeat. 

In religion he was a Presbyterian, firm himself, tolerant of 
others ; a strict observer of the Sabbath, regular in his attend- 
ance upon public and private worship, in heart and life, in walk 
and conversation, a Christian. For the cause of education lie 
did all that the circumstances of the countiy and times X)er- 



4 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

mitted, and was among the earliest supporters and patrons of 
what afterwards became Jefferson College, where his second son 
graduated, and where four of his grandsons and one of his 
great-grandsons were educated. 

He was very active and energetic both mentally and phy- 
sically ; fluent in speech, and excelling in conversational 
powers. He was amiable in disposition, earnest and firm in his 
opinions, and diligent in the discharge of duty. Whatever he 
willed he willed strongly, and whatever his hands found to do, 
he did it with his might. Courage, as well moral as jihysical, 
was a pre-eminent trait in his character. During the Insur- 
rection of 1794, a threat was made to tar and feather him, on a 
particular occasion, in case he should appear and offer oppo- 
sition. Hearing of the threat, he went forthwith to the meeting 
of the insurgents, addressed them in a long and earnest speech, 
pointing out the folly and illegality of their course, and dared 
them to execute their threat. He returned home unmolested. 

Passing through a long and useful life, during which he 
exerted always a controlling influence on all around him, he 
died on the 4th day of October, 1810, at the house of one of 
his daughters, aged about 72. 

Perhaps an apology is due for so extended a notice, in this 
place, of Col. Vallandigham : if so, it is found in the fact that 
between him and his grandson whose life and character we are 
about to exhibit, there were many striking points of resemblance; 
and besides, we have thought that the many excellences of the 
man, and the service which as a pioneer he rendered to the 
region in which he lived, deserved recognition and memorial. 
As far as we know, no sketch of his life and services has ever 
been published. 



LIFE OF CLEMEXT L, VALLAInDIGHAM. 5 

Col. Vallandigham, as we have before said, married Eliz- 
abeth Noble. She was a woman of intelligence, refinement, 
and worth. Her mother's maiden name was Dent. Both the 
Nobles and the Dents were of English descent, and were among 
the earliest and most respectable settlers in the State of Mary- 
land. 

Col. Vallandigham had five children, two sons and three 
daughters. The second son, Clement (the father of the sub- 
ject of this memoir), was born at the old family residence, near 
Noblestown, then within the limits of Yirginia, now Allegany 
County, Pennsylvania, on the 7th day of ISIarch, 1778. He 
was educated at Jefferson College, where he graduated in 1804. 
There being at that time no theological seminaries in the Wes- 
tern country, he studied divinity under the private tuition of 
the Rev. John McMillan, D. D., to whom many of the early 
Presbyterian ministers of the West were indebted for their theo- 
logical training. He was licensed to preach June 25, 1806. 
On the 14th day of ISIay, 1807, he was married to ]\Iiss 
Rebecca Laird, of \yashington County, Pennsylvania. They 
immediately removed to New Lisbon, Ohio, and on the 24th 
day of June following he was ordained and installed pastor of 
the Presbyterian church in that place. There he spent the 
remainder of his life, durinsr the whole of that time oflSciatins 
as pastor of that church, and part of the time having also the 
charge of the congregations of Long's Run and Salem. He 
was a man of fine mind and a good scholar. His many virtues 
endeared him to his friends, while so pure and upright was 
his conduct that even his bitterest enemy could say nought 
against the integrity of his character. Of no man could it be 
said with more truth than of him, that " even his filings leaned 



b " LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to virtue's side." One striking trait of his character was firm- 
ness. He would do whatever he was convinced was right, 
regardless of consequences. Though naturally extremely sen- 
sitive, and therefore not indifferent to the approbation or censure 
of those around him, neither the desire of the one nor the fear 
of the other could induce him for a moment to swerve from the 
patli of duty. He was also distinguished for hospitality. 
Although accustomed to entertain company to an extent that 
by many would have been considered oppressive, and that 
with his limited income he was ill able to bear, the friend and 
the stranger always found a cordial welcome beneath liLs kind 
roof and at his hospitable table. He was likewise remarkable 
for amiability of disposition. He was a tender and affectionate 
hasband, a kind and indulgent parent, and a sincere and faithful 
friend. To hl^ faithfulness in the discharge of ministerial duty, 
all who knew him bore witness. He shunned not to declare 
the whole counsel of God. He was instant in season and out 
of season. He attended faithfully to the stated ministrations 
of the pulpit, and he visited his flock from house to house. He 
was always ready to administer the balm of consolation to the 
wounded spirit, to soothe the couch of disease, and to jmy the 
last sad offices which ministerial duty devolved upon him to 
the departed. But the most important and estimable trait of 
his character was his humble, unfeigned piety. His religion 
was not an occasional impulse, but a steady, unwavering prin- 
ciple. His conduct, the fruit of it, was uniformly most exem- 
plary ; not only more so than that of most men, but more so 
than that of most ministers. The writer, during a very long 
acquaintance with him, never knew him guilty of a single act 
by which his piety could for a moment be called in question. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 7 

He died on the 21st day of October, 1839, "greatly beloved 
and regretted by a people among whom his ministerial labors 
had been eminently successful." 

James Laird (the maternal grandfather of Clement L. 
Vallandigham) was born in the county of Down, Ireland, 
July 17, 1748. He was of Scotch descent. In the spring of 
1766 he left Ireland for America, where he landed May 24, in 
the same year. He settled in eastern Pennsylvania, and on the 
17th of November, 1769, was married to Mrs. Martha Black, of 
Lancaster County. She having died March 29, 1777, he was 
married a second time, July 3, 1788, to Miss Margaret Jane 
Sproat. In 1795 he emigrated from York County to "Wash- 
ington County, where he spent the remainder of his life, pur- 
suing the avocations of farmer and merchant. He died August 
19, 1803, leaving six children, four sons and two daughters. 
His sons were all men of more than ordinary talents, and well 
educated : two of them were graduates of Washington College. 
One of them became a distinguished lawyer, the other three 
were ministers of the Gospel. His daughter Rebecca (the 
mother of the subject of this memoir) was born in York 
Comity, Pennsylvania, on the 20th day of April, 1789. Partly 
at home, and partly in a Female Seminary in Washington, she 
received her education. When quite young she was married, 
and removed with her husband to what was then comparatively 
a wilderness. A woman of superior intellect, of great energy, 
and of devoted piety, she was indeed a help-meet for her hus- 
band in his arduous labors as a pioneer minister of the Gospel. 
She managed the affairs of her household with wisdom and dis- 
cretion, and made her home to her husband and children and 
friends a home of sunshine and joy. With wonderful tact and 



8 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

skill she trained up her children and a large number of grand- 
children, who loved her with the warmest affection, and to whom 
her memory is as " ointment poured forth/' unspeakably pre- 
cious. 

She died on the 8th day of July, 1864, esteemed and be- 
loved and mourned by a community in which she had lived 
for nearly sixty years. 



CHAPTER II. 

BIRTH AND EAELY DAYS. 

Clement Laird Yallandigham was born in New 
Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio, on the 29th clay of July, 
1820. Of the seven children of his parents he was the fifth, 
there being two sisters and two brothers older, and a brother 
and a sister younger. This younger brother, a young lawyer of 
great promise, died in 1850. The other brothers and sisters 
still survive. His father received for his rninisterial services 
the amount of salary that was customary in those times — as 
large perhaps in proportion as is received in the jjresent day ; 
but it was inadequate to his supjjort. In order to make up the 
deficiency, and for the purpose of preparing his four sons for 
college, he established a classical school in his own house. This 
school was continued first by his eldest, and afterwards by his 
second son. Here were taught the Armstrongs, tlie Begges', 
the Blocksomes, the Brookes', the Grahams, the Harbaughs, 
the Hessins, the McCooks, the McKaigs, the McMillans, the 
Richardsons, and others ; many of whom have occupied posi- 
tions of eminence and usefulness, as lawyers, physicians, min- 
isters, merchants, &c. Among them was the late General Wm. 
T. H. Brookes, a gallant officer in the Mexican war and in the 
late civil war ; and Colonel George W. McCook, recently the 
Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio. 



10 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDlGHAM. 

It was in this school that Clement pursued liis studies pre- 
paratory to entering college, and even at that early age dis- 
played those abilities for which he was afterwards so greatly 
distinguished. Before he was two years old he had learned the 
alphabet, and when only eight commenced the study of Latin, 
and by the time he had completed his twelfth year he had read 
the whole Latin and Greek course, and was prepared for the 
junior class in college. He was, however, considered too yoimg 
to be sent from home, and for a number of years he spent his 
time in reviewing his studies, general reading, and in out-door 
sports and exercises calculated to invigorate the body. 

At this time he was accustomed, of his own accord, to rise 
at 5 o'clock in the morning, both winter and summer, and fre- 
quently he devoted ten or twelve hours a day to study. The 
writer has before him a little note-book kept by young Val- 
landigham when only sixteen years of age, in which is a mem- 
orandum of " Time spent in studying." In this he made an 
entry every day in the most careful manner. As an illustra- 
tion, the following is a literal transcript of one of the entries : 

"Monday, Jan. 23, com. 15 p. 5 A.M., quit 8; rec. 25 
p. 9, quit 3 P.M.; rec. 30 p. 4, quit 15 p. 9; rec. 20 of 10, 
quit 10. Total, 12.25 min." 

This careful memorandum of the hours spent in study he 
kept from the 14th day of November, 1836, until the 25th day 
of January, 1837. 

Notwithstanding his studious habits as a boy, he was fond of 
out-door sports, although never very fond of what the young- 
sters call playing. He much preferred going out gunuino- or 
fishing, to playing ball, or any of the other games so eagerly 
pursued, as a general thing, by boys. At an early ago he be- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAXDIGHAM. 11 

came an excellent shot, and he was all liis life a patient and 
successful fisherman. At this time, as in later life, his patience 
and perseverance excited the amusement as well as the admu-a- 
tion of his companions when he went on a fishing excursion. 
"Whilst those who accompanied him, if the " luck " was not 
good, would soon become restless, and disposed to try first one 
place and then another, he would choose his place, and remain 
there with all the taciturnity^ and endurance of an Indian until 
success cro-svned hLs efforts and rewarded his patience ; and it 
was a matter of remark that however hopeless at first the pros- 
pect seemed, and disheartened liis companions became, he 
always managed in the end to catch some fish. 

The adao-e that " the child is father to the man " is an old 
and trite one. Its truth however is so undeniable that it is no 
source of wonder to find that, among all classes of readers and 
thinkers, there is exliibited a lively desire to learn something 
of the childhood of one who has occupied a large space in the 
attention of the public. The imj^ression is strongly felt that in 
some way those remarkable traits which have given a man dis- 
tinction or fame must have been displayed at an early period 
of life, before the mind had yet matured, and before the expe- 
rience gained by contact with the world, in its various rela- 
tions, had produced caution, and the reticence and concealment 
of feeling which are the natural results of familiarity with the 
passions and the frailties of human nature. As a boy Mr. 
Yallandigham displayed many of those characteristics which 
afterwards attracted sometimes the admiration, and sometimes 
the antagonism of his fellow-men. He was studious, ambitious, 
courageous, and resolute ; ever more ready to meet opposition 
half-way than to evade or propitiate. A\Tien only about twelve 



12 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

years old he was one day walking down street in New Lisbon, 
and was about to pass a crowd of rude boys upon the side-walk. 
One of them who was unacquainted with him, thought it would 
be a good joke to give him a fall. Accordingly, as young Yallan- 
digham was about passing, he suddenly thrust his foot out in 
front of him for the purpose of tripping him. The quick eye 
of Vallandigham caught the movement, and halting but an 
instant, he suddenly dealt the young ruffian a blow, so rapidly 
delivered and so violent that the practical joker was laid upon 
the ground half-stunned, and then Avithout a word, or even 
looking around, he calmly pursued the even tenor of his way. 
"Who was that young fellow? who is he?" exclaimed the 
astonished assailant as he arose to his feet. " Why, it's Clem. 
Vallandigham, and you had better let him alone," answered 
his companions, which advice he was very willing to follow. 

An incident which occurred to him when sojourning tem- 
porarily on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, serves well to 
show the firmness of his character whilst he was still in years 
a boy. He had been invited, along with several gay yoimg 
men, most of them older than himself, to a supper-party given 
by a hospitable old gentleman of that most hospitable county 
of AYorcester. The host was a gentleman of the old school, 
kind-hearted and jovial, but a little too much addicted to the 
use of the "ardent." After a hearty repast, liquors were 
brought in, and the fun soon became " fast and furious." At 
this time, and indeed up to 1854, Mr. Vallandigham not only 
did not drink liquor of any kind himself, but was considered 
by some of his friends almost fanatical in his views upon the 
temperance question. Accordingly he refused at the very com- 
mencement of this part of the entertainment to partake, and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 13 

desired to excuse himself and return home, as his further 
presence, under the circumstances, might be a damper to the 
enjoyment of the company. But his host would not listen to 
this, and he was assured that his scruples on the subject should 
be regarded. But alas ! the promises of all men are uncertain, 
and this is more especially true when those who make them 
are in the habit of indulging to excess in the use of stimulants ; 
and as the wine went round, and each one became more reck- 
less, it appeared as plain to our gay friends as if it were a reve- 
lation, that if Vallandigham would not drink of his own accord 
it was their duty to make him drink, so as to introduce him to 
the pleasures of Bacchus,and render him as jolly as they them- 
selves felt. In an instant he was surrounded by the jovial 
youths, and they swore that the man who could drink and 
would not, should be made to drink. Mr. Vallandigham now 
found himself in a most embarrassing situation. The young 
men were his friends, they were excited by liquor, all of them 
high-spirited and brave, and now perfectly reckless, and they 
were determined that he should drink. Most persons, rather 
than seem ungracious, and some because of the danger of 
refusal, would have submitted; but he was made of sterner 
stuff. Not alone did his conscientious scruples urge him to 
resistance, but he was incensed that forcible means should be 
resorted to in order to compel him to violate the firm determina- 
tion he had formed. Extricating himself with a bound from 
those who surrounded him, he drew his pistol and solemnly 
warned them to desist, assuring them with earnestness and 
emphasis that he would die before he would submit to the 
indignity threatened, or disregard the opinions he had formed 
and the resolution he had adopted on the subject of drinking. 



14 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

by tasting a drop. This produced a momentary silence. The 
young men were brave, but they saw there would be trouble, 
and they stopped a minute to think. He then explained to 
them the impropriety of their conduct, and in an instant peace 
was made, and they all sat down satisfied. He shortly after 
withdrew, leaving them to their carousal, which was kept up 
to the "wee sma' hours," and returned alone to the village 
whence most of the company as well as himself had come. 

The Rev. Clement V. McKaig, who in boyhood was an 
intimate friend of Mr. Vallandigham, has furnished tlic fol- 
lowing recollections of his early days, which we think will be 
interesting : 

"It is now nearly 40 years since we attended the same 
Academy — first when it was under the care of his venerated 
father, the Rev. Clement Vallandigham, pastor of the Presby- 
terian Church, New Lisbon, Ohio, to whom it owed its origin. 
We were together also when the Academy was taught by liLs 
brother, the Rev. J. L. Vallandigham, then a recent graduate 
of Jefferson College, Pa. During the largest part of the time 
we were class-mates, and read together the principal jiortion of 
both the Latin and Greek course. In this way I had an 
opportunity to know him intimately. In person he Avas slender, 
erect, symmetrical, and finely formed. He was of fair com- 
plexion, with a bright animated eyo and sj^eaking countenance. 
Altogether he was strikingly handsome. In disposition he was 
amiable, kind and generous, always cheerful, lively and social ; 
on this account a general favorite in the school. In morals he 
was remarkably upright and exemplary. I cannot now re- 
collect that he was addicted to any vice whatever, even of a 
boyish nature. The excellent religious training and example 
of the parental household seems to have impressed and con- 
trolled him to an extent quite unusual, and so shaped his life at 
this period that it Avas to a high degree blameless. In the 
class, as in all school exercises, he always stood high, because 
he was both industrious and ambitious. Indeed, ambition to 
acquit himself well, and even to excel, was a marked trait in his 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 15 

character from his earliest school-days. I think no one in the 
school manifested such a laudable pride of good lessons, or 
showed so much manly honorable sensitiveness on this point. 
He scorned the idea of laziness as well as inability, and looked 
upon both as alike shameful. I remember when we were readino- 
Virgil and Horace, there arose in the class a good deal of strifis 
in reference to long lessons. , The matter of long lessons was 
encouraged by the Principal : some, however, protested and com- 
plained bitterly. But Mr. V., though the youngest, never ob- 
jected ; on the contrary, always cordially acceded to the largest 
number of lines, and then came prepared to read the entire 
portion that had been assigned. And from what I know of 
him I am sure he would have sat up half or all the night for 
study, had it been necessary, rather than have asked for lessons 
any shorter. To be amply prepared for everything that was ex- 
pected of him, and to be fully equal to whatever he attempted, 
Avas a noticeable feature in his character. Nor was it so much 
pride as principle with him. He felt that whatever Avas re- 
quired to be done, could be, and should be done, and should 
be done Avell ; and he never seemed satisfied Avith himself unless 
this result Avas attained. If I mistake not, this feature and 
habit also continued Avith him, grcAV Avith his groAA'th; and 
to it may be attributed, in an eminent degree, much of his 
success in life. 

" In his constitution there Avas a strong, flowing enthusiasm ; 
and this, combined Avith a high order of talent and a vigorous 
uuAvearied industry, gained for him the position of acknow- 
ledged superiority. Yet ho never claimed such a position for 
himself. He Avas high-spirited and aspiring, but never haughty, 
or euA'ious, or vaunting. His emulation Avas too frank and 
generous to excite any jealousy. And withal he Avas so ready 
to encourage and assist others, and so unassuming in regard to 
himself, there Avas no struggle in reference to j^lace, and no dis- 
pute in respect to merit or proficiency. 

" Apart from all this, Ave might note here as characteristics 
of mind belonging to Mr. V., activity, love of acquisition, readi- 
ness and vivacity of communication. He delighted to exercise 
his gifts. He ncA^er shirked any duty. He counted nothing a 
task that promised improA^oment. Composition and discussion, 
dislilced and shunned by most young students, Avcre apparently 
a pleasure to him. Ho A\'as therefore uniformly ready, Avhen- 
ever called upon, for composition; debate, and declamation. It 



16 LIFE OF CLEME2.'T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

very early appeared that his tastes and talents had a j^eculiar 
adaptation in this direction, and that in all his performances 
there Avas infused such a life and relish that he must necessarily 
in the end greatly exceL For one of his years he had read 
considerable ; his memory was quick and retentive ; his imag- 
ination, if not brilliant, was chaste and ^^rolific; his judgment 
discriminating, his language pure, easy, and quite fluent, and 
his manner pleasing and attractive. On suitable occasions, 
whether before the school or larger audiences on ' Exhibition 
Day,' he would often acquit himself with the highest credit and 
acceptance. I recollect that at such times he Avould come forth 
manly and graceful, full of energy and earnestness, face glowing 
with youthful eloquence, his soul absorbed in his theme, liis 
thoughts or arguments fresh and striking, his utterance clear 
and rapid. He was therefore sure to command appreciation 
and admiration. Here undoubtedly was foreshadowed, not by 
any means indistinctly, that element of power, eloquence and 
oratory, which afterAvards made him famous as a lawyer, and a 
successful 25opular speaker. He never was a mere surface- 
bubble, a thing to glitter^ and deceive, a tyro in knowledge. 
He mastered whatever he undertook. He thoroughly inves- 
tigated whatever he attempted to elucidate. His knowledge 
was accui'ate as Avell as comprehensive. He never attempted 
to lead others, excej^t as an honest, intelligent conviction and 
careful examination impressed his own mind. Then he would 
apjocal to the reason and judgment rather than the impulse 
and prejudice. In youth he was free from pedantry as well as 
sciolism, and could never be charged with artful trickery in 
displaying knowledge simply to create confidence or excite 
applause." 

A composition, written by him when sixteen years old, indi- 
cates the bent of his' mind at that early age, and the ambition 
which filled his soul with bright visions of future honor and 
eminence : 

" The necessity of exertion to secure intellectual eminence." 

" This is not a land upon which Nature has so profusely 
scattered her gifts that we may live without labor. We inherit 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 17 

no royal estate, no hereditary slaves toil for our subsistence 
■Nvhile we live in luxury and idleness. Our very existence 
depends upon our exertion ; and the maxim, Quisque suce 
fortunce faber, is here emphatically true. While exertion is 
essentially necessary for our pecuniary prosperity in this 
country, it is much more so to secure great intellectual emi- 
nence. As soon as we have finished our college studies we are 
thrown upon the cold heartless world to struggle for ourselves. 
If we have well improved our time and talents while we had 
the opportunity, we may meet its frowns with indifference, or 
return them with contempt. There is much to encourage and 
console us while toiling over our di-eary studies, in the reflection 
that whatever we determine to be, by proper exertion we gen- 
erally may be. Demosthenes determined to be an orator, and 
his success affords us the highest encouragement. Although 
not fitted by nature for the jDrofession which he had chosen, by 
application and diligence he was enabled to overcome her 
defects ; and now while the names of millions have been 
buried in the ocean of forgetfulness, his fame gathers fresh lau- 
rels from the lapse of time. When we are tempted to give up 
our studies in despair, let us remember that although exertion 
may now be painful and fatiguing, we shall some day reap the 
reward of our toil. The experience of both the past and the 
present teaches us the truth of this observation. Although 
almost all desire to rise to eminence in their lifetime, and to 
leave to future generations some memento of their former 
existence, few seem to realise its dependence upon themselves. 
They appear to think that if they are destined to be great, they 
will be so without any exertion on their part. Thus many, 
whom application and study might raise to the highest pitch 
of fame, deluded by this vain supposition, suffer themselves to 
drag out their existence in a miserable mediocrity. Others 
seem to think that tlie great desig-n of life is to live in idleness 
and pleasure. If they but have the means to gratify their 
animal appetites and passions^ they are content to live in ob- 
scurity witliout makint^ one further effort. Thus they pass 
their time in one continual round of pleasure and dissipation, 
regardless of the future ; and when the hour of death ajiproaches, 
they find themselves dying without having done a single 
action to perpetuate their names. Thus they descend into the 
grave, ^ unwept, unhonored, and unsung ; ' while those whose 
exertions have secured them immortality and fame, are followed 
2 



18 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to the tomb by the tears and regrets of millions. 'Tis true the 
bodies of both lie mouldering in the dust ; yet while the one is 
buried in merited oblivion, the other will be remembered with 
honor by the remotest posterity. Considering then the dif- 
ferent lot of the two, who would not prefer the latter ? Who 
would not forego the trifling and contemptible gratification 
which pleasure bestows, for the fame of Demosthenes, even 
when purchased with such labor and toil ? Beauty will fade, 
wealth will vanish, and pleasure gratify us for but a few short 
moments, but greatness secured by exertion will never decay." 

This composition as a literary eifort may not be better than 
many Avritten by bright boys of the same age in the j^resent 
day, but it is rendered significant and worthy of consideration 
.by the after-life of its author. Tlie line of conduct by it indi- 
cated was followed by him throughout his busy and varied 
career, and the liigh and earnest ambition thus early developed 
was the spur which continually urged him on to wonderful 
exertion in his professional business and his political struggles. 
Cardinal Wolsey, according to the immortal bard of Avon, 
bade Cromwell " fling away ambition " : yet it is an honorable, 
an ennobling passion, and when joined to a high sense of honor, 
integrity, and great abilities, its existence is not only a blessing 
to the possessor, but also to the generation in which he lives, 
and sometimes many generations that follow. In solitaiy walks 
over the beautiful hills of his native to^vn, in constant and 
dose application to study, and in the practice of oratory in the 
retirement of his own home, long before he had arrived at 
man's estate, young Vallandigham was laying up those stores 
of knowledge and acquiring that' mental discipline that fitted 
him for the busy and active and exciting scenes of his after-life. 



CHAPTEE III. 

COLLEGE LIFE. 

Tn the fall of 1837 Clement L. Vallandigham became a 
student of Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He 
entered the Junior class, for which he was well prepared, 
having read an extensive course in both Latin and Greek, and 
being also well versed in the other branches requisite for 
admission into that class. He remained for a year, diligently 
and successfully pursuing his studies, and at the same time 
taking a deep interest and an active part in the exercises of the 
Franklin Literary Society, of which he was a leading member. 
He would have returned the following year, but believing that 
his father — with a large family dependent upon him, and 
health somewhat impaired — could not well afford the means, 
he resolved that by teaching he would himself provide the 
money necessary to complete his education. Having accord- 
ingly obtained the appointment of Principal of Union Academy 
in Snow Hill, Worcester county, Maryland, he removed to 
that place in the autumn of 1838, where he remained for two 
years. There he faithfully performed his duties as a teacher, 
and at the same time endeavored to store and discipline his 
mind by constant reading and study. 

The Hon. John, R. Franklin a companion of liis early 
days, thus writes of him, in a letter dated Snow Hill, August 
17, 1871 :— 



20 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" Your brother Clement and myself came to this place to 
reside on the same day in the autumn of 1838 — he to take 
charge of the Academy, and I to read law. His room and 
mine adjoined, and we were as intimate as it was possible to be. 
We were from the same college, our aims in life were the 
same, and in our political principles we differed just enough 
to give a spice to our social intercourse. His life here was 
a veiy tranquil one, devoted to study and to the society 
of his friends. I remember no incidents of importance by 
which it was diversified. He was an undergraduate when 
he came to this place, and he carefully kept up his college 
studies; but at the same time he was a diligent student 
of history, and was in the habit of committing his thoughts 
to writing. We had at the time a spirited debating society 
in town, of which he was an active member. He prepared 
himself with the same research and labor for our little tilts 
as he afterwards did for the larger fields in which he was 
called to act later in life. Indeed I think the great secret 
of his power was that whatever the occasion might be, he 
always made himself master of the situation. About this 
time he acquired quite a reijutation as a temperance speaker. 
Some of his speeches were published and extensively circu- 
lated. The society of Snow Hill was then of the best. I 
have seldom known a country village to possess so much 
refinement and culture as were to be found here at that time. 
He was one of the ornaments of our little circle, and partici- 
i:)ated in all its gaieties. Even then he was a political student 
— not of the newspapers, but of those writers who assisted in 
framing the Constitution, and who have been its ablest ex- 
pounders. I well remember his familiarity with the Federalist. 
It was the text-book of his youth, and he studied it thoroughly. 
His princij)les then and afterwards were mostly drawn from its 
teachings. You know how the whole country was agitated in 
1840. I believe his whole family were Whigs ; certainly in 
this place all his friends and associates, both male and female, 
were of that party ; but he had based his creed upon a view 
of the Constitution which was utterly at war with their prin- 
ciples and practice. And he stood up almost alone against the 
tempest which in that day swept everything before it. His 
whole life has been but an exemplification of the spirit which 
he then displayed. If in a single instance he has ever swerved, 
either under the allurements of office or when the unscrupulous 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 21 

hand of despotic j)ower was laid upon him, I have yet to hear 
it whispered in any quarter. I think his best claim to the 
memory and gratitude of his countrymen is that he never was 
afraid to speak the truth." 

Irving Spence, Esq., who was one of his pupils when he 
taught in Snow Hill, in a letter dated August 28, 1871, thus 
gives his recollections of him : — 

" When Mr. Vallandigham came to Snow Hill as Precep- 
tor of Union Academy, I was only twelve years of age. I do 
not think his age exceeded eighteen. Perhaps I was too young 
to be a judge of character, but my recollections of some traits 
which impressed me thirty years ago are so vivid now that I 
must note them. The health of the Assistant Teacher in the 
Academy failed, and he was compelled to give up teaching. The 
advanced class in the Primary department, of which I was a 
member, was placed under the charge of Mr. V. But I saw 
much of Mr. V., not only in the school-room, but at the house 
of my mother and in the families of my relatives, where he was 
a frequent guest. 

" Mr. Vallandigham was a man of decided character : the 
traits not only well defined, but strong, if not even stern. This 
livas so much the case that when he first came into our commu- 
nity — before he had reached his majority — his opinions and 
convictions were as firmly settled as those of most men at thirty, 
and he was ever ready to give a reason for his faith ; this fact 
was remarked by all of his acquaintance here. He Avas not a 
professor of religion, but a regular attendant at church service, 
and always manifested the highest respect for ministers of the 
Gospel and those who claimed to be Christians. He had a 
fixed religious as well as political creed, and whoever attacked 
either of these in his presence had a bold and well-armed op- 
ponent. In person he was remarkably handsome; of much 
vivacity of temperament, aflPable in manner, and consequently 
popular ; but extremely sensitive to opposition or ridicule, and 
an insult he would not brook even at the risk of mortal issue. 
In the school-room he exercised strict, perhaps I should say 
stern discipline ; but he was often on the playground Mith the 
boys, and took part in their sports, and his pupils loved hun. 
He had a high reputation as a teacher." 



22 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

In the latter part of August, 1840, he left Snow Hill and 
returned to his home in New Lisbon. After spending some 
time with his relatives and ftiends, he re-entered college, be- 
comins: a member of the Senior class. At that time there were 
in Jefferson College two Literary Societies — the Franklin and 
the Philo, and it was customary every spring to have a contest 
between them in debate, composition, and declamation. Each 
Society in the fall, or early in the winter, would choose its best 
debater, composer, and speaker, and at the close of the winter 
session in INIarch, these contestors, as they were called, would 
appear before the public and exhibit their performances, and a 
committee of gentlemen previously selected would decide upon 
their merits. Immediately after his return to college, Mr. 
Vallandigham was unanimously elected debater for his Society. 

It was about this time that he drew uj) certain " Rules for 
Moral Culture." Whether they are original or selected we do 
not know, but present them just as we find them in his hand- 
wi'iting. They were evidently intended for his own guidance. 

Rules for Morai, Culture. 

1. Live in habitual communiou with God. 

3. Cultivate a grateful spirit. 

3. Cultivate a cheerful spirit. 

4. Cultivate an affectionate spirit. 

5. Let not the attainment of happiness be your direct object. 

6. Cultivate decision of character. Moral courage: Independence. 

Duty to our Neighbor. 

1. Be honest. 2. Be generous. 3. Be open-hearted. 4. Be polite 
(anecdote of the drover). 5. Be a good neighbor. 

Claims of Society. 
Requisites to meet them. 

1. A serious consideration of duties and prospects before us. 

2. Intelligence. 3. Upright and virtuous character. 4. Public spirit. 
5. Personal religion. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 23 

Motives to urge a preparation to meet these claims. 

1. The qualifications demanded are witliin your power. The claims 

2. Are fixed upon you. 3. The value of the interests soon to be 
committed to you. 

Avoid 

1. The beginnings of evil. 3. Skepticism and infidelity. 

1. Have an object in view: Aim high. 

2. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. . 

False Principles. 
1. Of honor. 2. Of pleasure. 3. Of love of money. 4. Love of 
applause (in extreme). 5. Cunning: Non-committalism. 6. Customary, 
ergo right. 

Fundamental Rule. 

Principle of unyielding rectitude. 

Why to be regarded. 

1. Dematded of God. 2. Of invariable and universal application. 

3. Of very etsy application: Costs no study. 4. It commands respect. 

5. The best policy. 

Formation of Character. 

1. Form 1 picture of what it ought to be. 

2. Make '.he picture a reality. 

3. Character to be formed in early life. 

4. Alta peUns : aliquid immensum infinitumque. 

5. Associat« with the virtuous and excellent. 

■ Character is power — is influence. 

CLEMT. L. VALLANDIGHAM, 

Jan. 10, 1841. Jefferson College. 

Whether tlese " Rules " be original or selected, or partly 
the one and pirtly the other, it is certainly remarkable that 
they should ha/e been adopted as the guide of his conduct by 
one so young ; ind it is still more remarkable that they should 
have been so sfcictly adhered to — that amid all the trials and 
temptations of his eventful career they should have been so 
strictly obeyed — so closely followed during the whole of his 
life. 



24 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 

In tlie latter part of January, 1841, he had a difficulty 
with Dr. Brown, the President of the College. The Doctor 
was an able President and an excellent man, but he had his 
feults. He was very positive in his opinions, and impatient of 
any dissent therefrom ; and he was often hasty and impetuous, 
and would say and do things which he would afterwards ex- 
ceedingly regret. He was, however, magnanimous, and as 
soon as conscious of having done a wrong he would confess it, 
and ask pardon of even the humblest student. The quarrel 
between him and young Vallaudigham originated in a recita- 
tion on Constitutional law. The latter advanced certain 
political opinions to which the Doctor objected, and which he 
endeavored to refute. Vallaudigham replied respeptfully, but 
at the same time firmly and decidedly. The Doctor, incensed at 
the assm'ance and pertinacity with which he defended his 
opinions, made use of language violent and insulting. This 
Vallaudigham would not brook, and immediately demanded an 
honorable dismission. The Doctor promptly gav« it to him, 
and he returned to the old homestead, where his ejdest brother 
was then living, and with him commenced the stidy of law. 

In March, though no longer connected with tl/o College, he 
went back to perform his part in the contest, anc^ made a very 
able debate ; but the decision was against him. The question 
was one that involved the doctrine of State ridlits, and these 
rights he maintained and defended to the fullest extent, and 
with the utmost boldness and earnestness ; ani it is not im- 
probable that prejudice against these doctrines on the part of 
the judges, though insensible to themselves, ws the cause of 
the adverse decision — a decision which certainly created great 



dissatisfaction. This defeat, though no doubt 



keenly felt by 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 25 

Mr. Yallandigham, exercised no permanent influence on his 
character or conduct. He still adhered to his political senti- 
ments, and he still resolved Iby energy, industry and perse- 
verance to seek and secure position and eminence in the future. 
The following, originally published in the St. Paul Press, 
is from the pen of the Rev. F. T. Brown, D. D., an intimate 
college friend of Mr. Vallandigham : — 

" The Freshman year of my college course was spent at Jef- 
ferson College, Pennsylvania, and soon after I entered there 
returned there a young man who had left at the close of his 
Junior year, two years before, and had been spending the in- 
tervening time in Maryland, teaching, to replenish his rather 
scanty purse. He now re-entered as a Senior to finish his 
course. His coming excited unusual interest, for he was con- 
sidered one of the most promising men the College had ever 
had in training, and was the ' bright particular star ' of his 
society — the Franklin. This was Clement L. Vallandigham : 
a slender, hawk-nosed, eagle-eyed, handsome young fellow. 
He took a room next to mine in a small boarding-house where 
I was lodged ( ' Aunt Polly Paxton's,' well-known to all old 
Jefferson boys), and we soon became intimate friends, though 
he was a Senior and I a Freshman, and though he was a Frank- 
lin and I a Philo — both contrary to established college cus- 
toms. Our attachment was very strong ; at least I loved him 
warmly. There was something very winning in him ; he was 
handsome, gentlemanly, high-spirited, and genial, but quite 
dignified and a little reserved ; he had few intimate friends, 
and I never knew him to engage in any of the College sports. 
He was a close student and stood high in his class, but his 
greatest reputation was as a Society debater, in which he was 
thought to have no equal in College. His morals even then 
were so pure, and his life every way was so exemplary, that 
many wondered that the son of ' old parson Vallandigham ' 
was not a member of the church. I was j^roud of his friend- 
ship, and in my personal attachment for him became almost 
disloyal to the Society to which I belonged. I was not con- 
scious of this till the annual contest was coming oif between 
the two Societies (exciting in that college more interest than the 



26 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

exercises of Commencement), when I found that, though a 
Philo, my sympathies were strongest for the success of my 
friend '■ Clem.,' who w^as one of the contestants. His Society 
chose him by acclamation as their debater. His competitor 
was a Mr. Mercur, now the Hon. Ulysses Mercur, M. C. from 
Pennsylvania. The question discussed has always seemed to 
me to have been prophetic of C. L. V.'s future political course. 
It was, in substance (I have forgotten the precise phraseology) : 
* Is the tendency of the genius of the Government of the United 
States toward a centralisation of power in the general Govern- 
ment, or in the individual States ? ' Vallandigham took the 
side of the individual States, and under that banner he fought 
to the end of his life. Of the merits of the debate I know 
nothing. I thought at the time that my friend should have 
had the Mionor,' but the three distinguished judges (Judge 
McCandlass, of Pittsburgh, was, I think, one of them) thought 
otherwise, and gave it to Mr. Mercur. Clem, bore his defeat 
like a man, and went home to his brother's house at New 
Lisbon, Ohio, to study law." 

The following recollections are from the pen of the Hon. 
Sherrard Clemens, who was an intimate friend of Mr. Vallan- 
digham in college and after-life, and who served with him as a 
member of Congress : 

" I became acquainted with Clement Laird "Vallandigham, 
some time about the year 1837, at Jefferson College, Washington 
County, Pennsylvania, then under the Presidency of the Kev. 
Mathew Brown. We were members of the same literary 
society, and my attention was first drawn towards him by the 
remarkable powers which he evinced in debate. We boarded 
near together, and our intimacy soon matured into warm friend- 
ship. His mother and my mother we found to be old acquain- 
tances, and this rij)ened the association. He was a close stu- 
dent ; remarkably exemplaiy in his morals ; of great energy 
of purpose and determination of character ; and of an ambition 
which mated with the stars. His standing in his class was 
excellent, and his mind of the first order. It was very easy to 
see, even at that early period, that he was destined to reach a 
high eminence in whatever profession he embraced; and liis 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM; 27 

standing among his fellows was that* of an unquestioned leader. 
His manners were open, genial and kind. He had a hand 
open as day to melting charity. He was full of spirit and a 
love of innocent amusement, and from all these combined qual- 
ities was deservedly popular among all the students. Accor- 
dingly, when the annual contest took place between the literary 
societies, he was selected the champion of our Society. His 
opponent was Ulysses Mercur, formerly a judge, and lately if 
not now a member of Congress in the Lower House, from the 
Erie District in Pennsylvania. The award of the judges in the 
contest, in favor of Mercur against Vallandigham, gave great 
dissatisfaction, and to no one more than myself. Vallandigham 
was deeply chagrined and disappointed. He had set his heart 
upon a triumph, and had invoked universal good-will among 
his fellow-students ; and when the announcement was made that 
he had lost the debate, we had a quasi rebellion. 

" His whole career at college was a career of labor and 
thought. He rarely sought outside relaxation, except in long 
walks in the mornings and evenings ; and then his mind was in- 
tent upon some subject of moment, or something pertaining to 
his course of study. He was but a moderate eater, and I do 
not remember that I ever saw him, while at college, take a single 
glass of liquor. While other students had their convivialities, 
he did not, so far as I ever knew, join them. He seemed to be 
arrayed in armor and have his visor well down, prepared for 
the conflict of life, which he saw was not far off. 

" At this time there was a large number of Southern stu- 
dents, liberally provided by their parents with money, and who 
frequently went on sprees to Pittsburg, Washington, and 
Wheeling. These I never knew him to join. They often gave 
oyster and other suppers, where wine flowed fi'cely. These I 
never knew him to take part in. He was sensitive and proud, 
and he told me he would partake of no hospitality which he 
could not return, and that he could not afford the means to do 
it. He therefore kept aloof, and passed his time much more 
profitably, carrying out his fixed determination to allow nothing 
to interfere with his own elevation in life. His ambition was 
early developed, and was with him an intense jjassion. He felt 
everything depended upon him, and therefore upon himself he 
lavished whatever of skill, labor, or art he could command^ In 
this lie never appeared to relax. He seemed to look forward, 



28 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

as with the eye of a seer, to the position he afterwards occupied 
in the country. 

" In his own way he was fond of diversion and play, and 
his tastes were as simple and innocent as those of a child. In 
his close devotion to study this mental relaxation was of great 
service ; for he attempted a system of close dietetic treatment, 
under the plea that it would leave his mind the freer to act, 
and for a time he fell oif considerably in flesh ; but I argued and 
ridiculed him out of this, and the exercise he took soon restored 
all the weight he had lost. 

" Perhajis it was from my close and peculiar association with 
him, but I regarded him as by far the brighest intellect at Col- 
lege. He presented strong characteristics of his future career ; 
and I predicted for him then, early and extensive eminence. 
That ' the child is father of the man ' is in his case most con- 
clusively proved, for I know of no students who were college- 
mates of his who have attained to the positions and who have 
shown the same capacity to grapple successfully with the world 
as he has done. He was in some respects eccentric, self-willed 
and impatient of restraint ; and in anything he took very much 
at heart, he was reckless of opposition. This trait was early 
developed, and I soon saw he was one of those persons who 
could be persuaded with a hair but who could not be dragged 
with a log-chain. This trait became conspicuous in his contest 
with the Administration during the Civil War, in his exile and 
his return. His passions were high, honorable, warm, and 
often impulsive. A soft word would win him when hooks of 
steel could not drag him to any object he did not approve. 
His devotion to his mother was beautiful. She was the ocean 
to the river of his thoughts. The evidence of careful religious 
training was in all his acts. 

" He was prudent in expQnditure, moderate in . liis wants, 
and entirely free from the small vices which so easily beset a 
youth at the outset of his career. Without apparently seeking 
popularity, he commanded it among the very class of his 
associates who were utterly different from him in taste, man- 
ners and habits. He walked among them preserving his own 
self-respect, and yet with an attitude of conscious superiority. 
He was a fine classical scholar, and delighted in heli:)ing out hia 
less favored or less studious companions in their translations. 
I have known him to devote much time to this benevolent 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 29 

work, to enable those to appear at class who had passed nights 
of revelry and dissipation instead of devoting them to their 
books. In this particular he was an unfailing source of relief; 
and ' old Clem/ as he was popularly termed, never faltered in 
it. The tribute thus paid to him was an almost unconscious 
compliment not only to his innate good-nature, but to his well- 
grounded scholarship. He did not act upon the philosophy of 
Dean Swift's couplet — 

" ' The lower you sink 
The higher I aspire ' — 

but he seemed desirous to lift them up to his own level, to 
supply their deficiencies, and to put them on the path of success. 
This outcropping of good-nature bore its fruits. He was a 
favorite among those who generally seek their intimates among 
those of like passions and frailties ; and when the selection of a 
contestant in debate came, and each one desired the strongest 
man, they were among his firmest and most enthusiastic sup- 
porters. He had the faculty of making strong friends. He 
was exacting in his love, as in his hate. He was what Dr. 
Johnson termed a good hater. Capable of making any sacri- 
fice for his friends, he expected to find the same sjjirit in return. 
This resulted from the very energy of his character, which was 
wonderful. Undaunted by obstacles, courageous in the midst 
of difficulties and dangers, unappalled by disaster, he went 
right on to the accomplishment of an object in a mind some- 
what akin to that in Addison's Cato — 

" ' ' Tis not in mortals to command success : 
We'll do more — we will deserve it.' 

It was this consciousness of enduring power that sustained and 
upheld him amidst every discouragement. Sometimes he was 
unusually despondent — self-poised, and his soul like a star 
dwelt apart. But it seemed like his retirement into the dark- 
ness of a cave, the better to enable him to appreciate the light 
and warmth of day. 

" * Yet when all our soul is weary 
Of life's turmoil, pain and whirl, 
And we strive to rend the curtain, 
Lo ! we beat 'gainst walls of pearl ! 
We have missed the crystal doorway; 



oO> LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Or the keys celestial fail, 
While we wait without impatience 
For the lifting of the veil. 
When we pine with restless longing 
Some long vanished form to view, 
Seems this veil a luminous ether, 
Saintly faces beaming through ; 
And we almost catch the whisper, 
Soft as sigh of summer's gale, 
Almost see the beclvoning finger 
At the lifting of the veil.' 

""WTiatever his own discouragements or disappointments 
may have been, although he indulged in seasons of unusual 
sadness, there was never a tone of unmanly complaint about 
him; there seemed to run through his whole composition 
that Calvinistic faith which bears the cross as a type and 
symbol of regeneration and 2'>ower. To be, to do, and to suffer 
seemed the destiny of humanity ; and however dark the clouds 
may have been over his own soul, they were curtained away at 
last, and there stood out the eternal cerulean blue of the firma- 
ment studded with myriads of stars. 

" This type of disposition seems to be common to all stiuxly, 
passionate natures ; at all events it was true of him at the 
period in question. As his dejection was sometimes complete, 
so his mirth was all-abounding and contagious. It was the 
contrast of the sj^arkle of the fireworks as they go up and the 
dark blackened stick as it comes down. At such time there was 
an infinite sweetness and bonhommie about him. To adopt the 
words of Emerson, ' there seemed to be a pool of honey about 
his heart which lubricated all his speech and filled all his 
actions with fine jets of the sweetest mead.' Every act of 
struggling is in itself a species of enjoyment; every hope that 
crosses the mind, every high resolve, every generous sentiment, 
every lofty aspiration, nay, every brave despair, is at last a 
gleam of happiness that flings its illumination upon the darkest 
destiny. All these are as essentially a portion of human life 
as the palpable events that serve as landmarks of its history, 
and all these we have to compute before we can fairly judge of 
the prevailing character of any man." 

We have already narrated the circumstances that led to Mr. 
Vallandigham's mthdrawal from College within a few months 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 31 

of his graduation. It is proper that we should here state that 
Dr. Brown soon regretted the temper he had exhibited and the 
words he had unadvisedly spoken which led to this with- 
drawal ; but there seemed no way then to rectify the error, as 
it was well understood that Mr. Vallandigham would not, 
under any circumstances, return to College. 

Some years after, however, Dr. Brown wrote a letter ex- 
planatory and apologetic, offering Mr. Vallandigham his 
diploma, on the single condition that he should apply for it to 
the Faculty of the College. This he refused to do and so 
never received his diploma. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ENTRANCE ON POLITICAIi AND PEOEESSIONAL CAEEER. 

Mr. Yallandighajvi commenced the study of politics 
when only sixteen years old, but did not become an active 
politician till four years later. In the fall of 1840 he made 
his fii'st j)olitical speech. It was at a Democratic meeting in 
Calcutta, in the southern part of his native county. He was 
then rather tall, but slender, beardless, boyish in aj^pearance, 
but with the voice and bearing of a man. He spoke for an 
hour with an ease and an energy that astonished the sturdy 
farmers and mechanics that had assembled to hear the youthful 
orator. Their admiration was unbounded, and as soon as he 
had finished they bore him off in triumph on their shoulders, 
and from that time he was one of the leading speakers of his 
party in the county. 

Another of his youthful efforts was at New Middletown, in 
the northern part of the county, and to it he thus refers in a 
speech made at the same place, August 9, 1867 : — 

" I have been asked, why select a village so comparatively 
obscure — and I hope no offence will be taken when I speak of 
it as such — and so far from the railroads which have sprung np 
in the country since the olden time ? There are two reasons ; 
and the first reason is, it was glorious old Springfield township 
that, when I was a boy, saved the Democratic Congressman in 
the district, and the Democratic county to which it then 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGnAM. 33 

belonged, in the memorable campaign of 1840. AYitliout 
detailing circumstances which I have elsewhere related, permit 
me to say that, confident of victory, the hoy had remained out 
late to hear the returns. Every township came in with a 
Whig majority, and we had begun to despair. At about 
1 o'clock the Democratic party was beaten, and we all felt 
badly. At about 4 o'clock, however, Ave heard the tramp of 
horses' hoofs down the hill from New Lisbon, and behold ! old 
Springfield township had not only held its own, but had given 
a hundred more of a Democratic majority than ever before, or 
at any time since, which elected our Congressman by fifty- 
two votes, and saved Columbiana County, to which it then 
belonged, to the Democratic party for many years after. That 
is to me a very pleasant recollection, and it was one of the rea- 
sons why I accepted your invitation. Very pleasant too is the 
recollection that here, in New Middletown, I made one of my 
first efforts at public speaking. I shall not soon forget that, 
when ' a youth to fortune and to fame unknown,' nevertheless 
ready and willing to do my part and bear my share of the 
burden in the great campaign between Clay and Polk in 1844, 
I found myself announced at the tail end of a hand-bill in very 
small letters as one of the speakers. The ' lions ' were all in 
large type, as was becoming; but it was expected in. those days 
that young men would stand back and wait until near the 
going down of the sun. The seniors spoke long and loud and 
eloquently, until in my youthful jealousy, natural as it was, I 
thouglit they meant to speak me out of time. The shadows 
were falling long from these tall trees when at last all the 
other speakers concluded and the audience were about to 
disperse, but some there were who resolved to stay and hear 
the boy. I came to the platform as many of the wagons were 
going away ; still I had reason to be satisfied if a few were 
content to stay, and it creates a sense of triumph even to this 
day to remember that many gathered in their teams as soon as 
I liad commenced, and the crowd was larger in the evening 
than it had been during the entire day." 

It was customary in those days for the Yv'hig and the 
Democratic speakers to meet at various places in the county 
and discuss before the people the points at issue between the 
3 



34 LIFE OF CLEME]S'T L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

parties. In these debates young Vallancligham participated. 
At first, the AVhig orators, -who were generally middle-aged 
men — some of them gray-headed — ^yere disposed to sneer at 
the " beardless boy," as they called him ; but the spirit ^yith 
which he replied to their personalities, and the seyerity and 
fearless energy with which he repelled their assaults, speedily 
put an end to this. The knowledge which he displayed on the 
subjects at issue, his fluency in debate, and his manly coiu-agc, 
commanded their respect, and the ablest of them all soon felt 
that in encountering the youthful sjDcaker he met " a focman 
worthy of his steel." 

It was during this period that he had a rencounter on the 
streets of New Lisbon that is perhaps worthy of mention. 
The night before the election he had addressed a meeting in 
one of the neighboring yillages, and in the course of his speech 
made a playful allusion to Mr. G., a prominent AMiig of 
New Lisbon. The account of it was borne that same night to 
Mr. Q., no doubt greatly exaggerated, for there was in reality 
no just ground of offence in the remark that was made. ]\Ir. 
G., howeyer, was incensed, and determined to inflict personal 
chastisement; and arming himself A\ith a heayy cane, as ]\Ir. 
Vallandigham passed by his door next morning he yiolcntly 
assaulted him. The blow was aimed at his head, but Mr. Val- 
landigham parried it with his hand, wrested the cane from the 
grasp of his assailant, and with it instantly felled him to the 
paycment. Mr. G. was carried into the house bleeding and 
insensible. In the meantime a crowd had assembled. Mr. 
Vallandigham's friends led him away (a mob following with 
clubs and stones) to the house of Mr. B., who, though a political 
opponent, was a personal friend. There the wound he had re- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 35 

ceivecT — a very slight one — was dressed, and he remained for 
some time, the crowd outside clamoring for vengeance. Learn- 
ing however that he was needed at his office, he prepared to leave. 
His friends, especially the ladies in the house, urged him to 
pass through the back door and down a back street, for fear of 
personal violence. This he refused to do : he was born, he said, 
and had been raised in New Lisbon, and no man and no com- 
bination of men should prevent him at any time or under any 
circumstances from freely walking its streets. He accordingly 
Avent out in front, walked down Walnut street to his office, his 
friends congratulating him on the way, and his enemies keeping 
at a respectful distance. The effi^ct of this was most salutary. 
His enemies learned that he had the courage and the skill and the 
ability to defend himself, and he was never afterwards molested. 

The first law-case in which he was engaged, and his first 
speech to a jury, was when he was still a student of law, not 
yet admitted to the Bar. His client on that occasion was an 
honest old Quaker who had been grossly cheated in a horse-trade 
by a cunning and unscrupulous horse-jockey. It was said by 
a distinguished laAvyer many years ago that there never was a 
horse-trade without cheating and lying by one or the other party 
to the transaction, or by both ; and indeed this seems to be 
true, for the writer has known men who appeared to be con- 
scientious and to have a regard for veracity in everything else 
except the negotiations pertaining to a trade of horses. Some 
student of psychology should investigate this peculiarity of the 
human mind : we have not time to enlarge upon it now, nor 
even to suggest a theory to account for it. 

The case was tried in Salem, Columbiana County. There 
was great interest manifested by the neighborhood; and the 



36 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

Justice, finding liis office entirely too small, adjourned to a 
large carpenter-shop hastily fitted up for the occasion. The 
shop was soon filled with an audience anxious to listen to the 
case, and who remained till after midnight to see the close. 
The horse-jockey was defended by a lawyer of age and ex- 
perience, who was unsparing in his exertions and fought ever}' 
inch of ground. The whole day Avas spent in the examination 
of witnesses, and it was late iu the night before the argument 
was commenced. The speech made by the beardless youth 
Vallaudigham astonished every one present. He spoke for 
nearly an hour with the greatest force and earnestness. His 
remarks in regard to the defendant and denunciations of his 
dishonesty were so severe that, burning with -wTath, he arose 
in his place and threatened a severe castigation unless the boy 
(Mr. V.) would desist, upon which young Vallandigham 
defied him in the fiercest manner, and administered such a 
rebuke to the bullying jockey tliat the latter was glad to get 
away from the sound of his voice. This trial, though the 
amount involved was small, was long remembered in the 
neighborhood ; and the effort of Mr. Vallandigham, young 
and inexperienced as he then was, produced a deep and pro- 
found impression. 

As a student of law he was diligent and attentive, devoting 
much time also to general reading and literary culturcj and 
taking an active part in politics. On the 5th day of December, 
1842, at Columbus, he was admitted to practice in the Supreme 
and other courts of the State. On his return home he became 
a partner of his eldest brother, who was then practising law in 
New Lisbon. This brother in the course of a year left the 
bar and entered the ministry, and he continued the practice 



LIFE OF cleme:s't l. vallaxdigham. 37 

alone. The following notice of his first speech after admission 
to the bar, we find in the Cincinnati Enquirer: — 

"A friend of onrs in the Enquirer office remembers hearing 
Mr. Vallandigham deliver his first address at the bar. Judge 
Belden, JNIr. Upham, and other distinguished lawyers who were 
present, characterised it as the most brilliant eifort they had 
ever listened to. It was in Xew Lisbon, Columbiana County, 
and all the bystanders were struck with a promise of greatness 
which the future so wonderfully realised." 

Mr. Vallandigham entered upon the practice of his pro- 
fession with his accustomed energy and prosecuted it with 
characteristic diligence, and so great was his success that m 
four years his practice was equal to that of the oldest and 
ablest member of the New Lisbon bar. Yet he s-ave a larg-e 
portion of his time to politics. He thoroughly studied the 
science, and took a prominent and active part in ever}^ political 
campaign. Indeed he greatly preferred politics to law ; and 
had he been successful in his political asj)irations, it is probable 
that ultimately he would have abandoned the practice of law 
altogether. 

In August, 1843, he placed on record in his note-book the 
following 

"fixed rules 

" Of political conduct to guide me as a statesman, in no instance 
and under no circumstances to be relaxed or violated, and 
this by the blessing of Almighty God. 

" 1. Always to pursue what is honest, right and just, though 
adverse to the apparent and present interests of the country, 
well assured that what is not riglit can not in the long run be 
expedient. 

" 2. Always to prefer my country and the M'hole country- 
before any and all considerations of mere party. 



38 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

" 3. In all things coolly to ascertain and ^vith stern inde- 
pendence to pursue the dictates of my judgment and my con- 
science, regardless of the consequences to party or self. 

" 4. As far as consistent with the national honor and safety, 
and with justice to the country, to seek peace wuth all nations, 
and to pursue it, persuaded that a pacific policy is the true 
wisdom of a Slate, and war its folly ; yet as resoh'cd to demand 
nothing but what is right, so to submit to nothing wrong. 

" 5. Sedulously at all times and in every place to calm and 
harmonise the conflicting interests and sectional jealousies of 
the ditferent divisions of the Republic, and especially of the 
j^orth and South; and with steady perseverance, under all 
circumstances, to uphold and cement the union of the States as 
the ' palladium of our political safety and prosperity/ except at 
the sacrifice of the just constitutional liberties and inalienable 
rights of oppressed minorities. 

" 6. Without infringing the rights of conscience, always to 
countenance and snp])ort religion, morality, and education, as 
essential to the well-being of a free government ; and in all 
things to acknowledge the superintending providence of an 
All- Wise, Most Just, and Beneficent God in the affairs of the 
Republic." 

With these fixed rules of political conduct he commenced 
his active and eventful career. The tenacity with which he 
adhered to them, and the consequences of this rigid adherence, 
will be seen in the pages that follow. 



CHAPTER Y. 

IN THE L E G I S L A T U r. E OF OHIO, 

In the summer of 1845, Mr. Yallandigham Avas unani- 
mously nominated by the Democratic party of his native county 
as one of their candidates for Representative in the State Legis- 
lature; and in October of the same year, having just attained 
the constitutional age, was elected without opposition. The 
Legislature met on the first day of December, 1845, and he 
took his seat, the youngest member of the body. Previous to 
leaving home he laid down the following " Rules " for his con- 
duct as a legislator : — 

"1. To avoid interfering in merely local matters, ludcss 
they involve a grave general princijjle. 

" 2. To avoid with persevering resolution all connection or 
mingling with the j^ctty factions or personal jealousies and quar- 
rels of political friends, and of foes also ; if vcccMarj/ to act in 
any way in them, to do it as an 'armed neutral,' manifesting at 
the same time that I act as a patriot, irom a sense of dr.ty, and 
not from feeling as a partisan. 

"3. To speak but rarely, and ??rrrr without having made 
myself comj)lete and thorough master of the subject; so that 
when I rise, every one may expect to hear something A\()rth 
listening to. No error is more fatal to influence in a delibera- 
tive assembly than the violation of this plain rule: 'Verily, ye 
are not heard for your much speaknig.^ 

"4. Always to bear in mind the dignity and rcsponsibilitv 
of my station, remembering that, by the favor of niv fellow- 
citizens, I am a part of the Government, and that human gov- 
ernment is the viccgerency of HeaveUj and the highest exertion 
of human poM'cr.'^ 



40 LIFE OF cleme:nt l. vallandigham. 

Mr. Yallandigham's first effort was made on the 8ta of 
December, upon a motion to print the reports of the Benevolent 
Institutions of the State. The following is an extract : — 

" If there be any one thing more than another to which the 
citizens of Ohio may point with proud and generous exultation, 
it is to her ])ublic asylums, to her common schools, to her State 
prison, by which she has acquired so lofty and honorable a pre- 
eminence among her sisters of the confederacy. Not the soil 
of Ohio, not her climate, not the extent of her territory, nor the 
multiplied variety of her productions ; not even the majestic 
river which washes her base ; not the multitude of her teeming 
population, nor licr Avcalth, nor her resources, nor her rapid 
growth, un])aralleled in the history of States, challenging the 
wonder of the world, and realising the magic creations of the 
lamp in Oriental fable ; not anything in her whole history^ and 
character has contributed one half so much to elicit the eulogy 
and admiration of the intelligent and enlightened of Europe 
and America, as the asylums and other public institutions which 
the generous benevolence of the people of Ohio has consecrated 
to the relief and solace of those whom, otherwise, the misfortune 
of birth or the accidents of life must have consigned to ho})eless 
despair. For my own part. Sir, I never turn my eyes or direct 
my thoughts toward these buildings — these living monuments 
of a lofty and sublime charity — and to our common schools, 
without the warm feelings of a heart — patriotic, I trust — swell- 
ing unconsciously in my bosom, and breaking from my lips, 
though in solitude, in audible accents, ^I am a citizen of Ohio.' 
" ]\Ir. Speaker, I do not mean, upon this or upon any occa- 
sion, to indulge on this floor in mere school-boy declamation. 
I desire, now and always, to speak in language becoming -jtlie 
representative in part of this great people. But be assured — 
be assured — that these are the institutions which constitute the 
true glory and greatness of a State. Be assured, that when 
banks and tariffs, and all other fleeting topics of the day we 
live in shall have descended to the oblivion which awaits them 
alike; when your senate chambers, your halls of justice, and 
your monuments sliall have bowed themselves to the dust; 
when you and I, Mr. Speaker, shall 'sleep in dull, cold mar- 
ble ;' nay, when, after the lapse of some centuries, this Union 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAXDIGHAM. 41 

shall have been dissolved, our political institutions decayed, 
their vital spirit yielded up, our greatness all gone, and even 
our language ceased to fall from living lips, be assured. Sir, that 
the future historian of Ohio, writing her history in a tongue as 
yet unformed, will record as foremost and proudest among her 
glories these very institutions which, with great humbleness, 
yet in all singleness of heart, I have thus eulogised." 

This subject was selected by him purposely, because it did 
not involve jjarty feeling, and the speech was extremely avcU 
received by members of both parties. In the editorial corres- 
pondence of the Lancaster (Ohio) Eagle it was thus noticed : — 

" The youngest Democratic member in the HoiLse, !Mr. Val- 
landigham, made his debut to-day, on a resolution to print 
documents. It was a brilliant effort, and produced an electric 
effect upon the House. He is a splendid young man." 

On the first day of the session he had been appointed a 
member of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and on 
the 9th submitted a carefully prepared report upon the question 
of the eligibility of officers of the State Bank to a seat in the 
Legislature, maintaining, in opposition to a majority of his 
party, that they were not constitutionally disqualified. Soon 
afler, on the 18th, from the minority of the committee, he made 
a very elaborate report upon the question of " Legislative Dis- 
tricts," in the Morgan County contested election. The report 
attracted great attention in the House and throughout the State. 
Hon. Samson jSIason, a distinguished Whig, who, as chairman 
of the committee, had submitted the report of the majority, 
said, in debate, that " the report of the minority was an able 
one, and hio;hly creditable to the talents of the gentleman who 
had made it." And jNIr. C. C. Hazewell, then editor of the 
Oliio Statemiian, speaking of it, said, " Columbiana County may 



42 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

wtll be proud of he - young member, who has ah'cady aehievcd 
for himself an enviable name as a debater for skill and fair- 
ness, and as a writer at once powerful and dignified. He is one, 
also, who does not think it necessary to disgrace great talents 
by buffoonery and immorality in order to achieve a sudden 
notoriety." 

On the 30th, Mr. Vallandigham spoke briefly in favor of 
the bill to repeal the Ohio State Bank Act, referring in calm 
and determined language to his confidence in the power of truth? 
and his readiness to wait patiently and even long till she should 
be vindicated. A single paragraj)!! we quote, for the purpose 
of illustrating the fact that even at that early period he was 
characterised by the same open and bold avowal of his senti- 
ments, even though unpopular, that so greatly distinguished 
liim in after life : — " The gentleman from Shelby [Mr. Thomas], 
and his friends with him, are fully welcome to the entire benefit 
of anything which may have fallen from me. I have never 
sought concealment, either upon this question or upon any 
other. I am not afraid of the truth ; I dare speak it openly. 
It may be unpopular, it may bo in advance of the age ; it is 
none the less truth, and I am not, therefore, the more afraid to 
proclaim it." 

He continued to take an active part in all important debates, 
carefully observing the rules which he had laid down for him- 
self, and on the 11th of February, 1846, in a speech which was 
most flatteringly received, defended the sanctity of cemeteries 
and other places of human sepulture. From that speech we 
take the following beautiful extract : 

'' This bill. Sir, merits a different treatment at the hands of 
honorable gentlemen. The feelings in which it originates are 



LIFE OF CLEME2s^T L. VALLA:N'DIGHAM. 43 

implanted in us by Xature herself, and it is vain for us to un- 
dertake to disregard them. They haye been recognised, 
honored and obeyed in all ages, because they spring up from 
the human heart in its purest state. There is no man, llo^y- 
ever humble his condition or whatever his religious belief, who 
does not attach some sanctity to the dead, and desires that after 
his life shall have terminated some tribute of respect be paid 
to his remains. This is an aspiration, an impulse so natural, 
that no degradation, be it ever so low, can obliterate it from 
our hearts. Even the most friendless and forsaken, dying 
alone, a stranger in a strange land, without a friend to perform 
in his dying moments the last sad offices of aifeetion, desires 
that his body at least be suffered quietly and decently to rest 
in its grave. And this is a feeling which has dominion much 
more over the friends and relatives of the dead, where the dead 
have been so fortunate as to have left relatives and friends 
behind them. It is this self-same feeling which in all times 
has reared the splendid mausoleum of the king, and planted 
the simple rose-bush over the humble grave of the peasant. 
There is no nation, however barbarous, but has some funereal 
monuments ; and the rites and the sanctity of sepulture are 
among all, no matter what their religion, held in the highest' 
regard. The IMussulmans have their cemeteries, spacious and 
costly, and called beautifully and expressively in their language, 
' Cities of Silence.' Even the sim])le Indian savages of our 
continent have their memorials, rude indeed, but still memo- 
rials of the burying-places of their fathers. All this springs 
from our innate feeling of veneration and care for the dead, 
for those who have passed into that * undiscovered country 
from whose bourne no traveller returns' — a feeling founded in 
the consciousness we all possess of the immortality of the soul. 
But whether the soul be immortal, or suffer annihilation at 
death, there exists, and has existed in all times and among all 
men, an instinctive desire that the body be cared for and 
guarded, even though it be no longer any more than cold, un- 
animated clay, resolved again to its original elements. And 
even the place of one's burial has in every age been a matter 
of anxious solicitude witli the dying. AVho that is familiar 
with that earliest and best of books, coming down to us hallowed 
by every sanction of antiquity, full of the simple narrative of 
the patriarchal ages and fresh with the spirit of a newly- 
created world, but remembers that the first purchase of land 



44 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

upon record was of tlic cave of Machpelah for a burying-place, 
where Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife ? Who has 
not read the last dying aspiration of another of the Hebrew 
patriarchs, who, calling his chosen son to his side, prayed him 
with the simple pathos of expiring old age, ' Deal kindly and 
truly with me ; bury me not in Egypt, I i)ray thee; but I icill 
lie with mi/ fathers ; and thou shaft carry me out of Egypt.' 
And who does not know how religiously the injunction was 
obeyed ; and that four hundred years ailerward the bones of 
the son, also, Avere carried up from the land where first buried, 
and deposited in the sepulchre of the patriarchs. Sir, it is 
vain to war against these feelings. Nature will assert her 
mastery. They are too deeply implanted and too universal to 
be despised in American legislation. Even in those countries 
where the dead were burned, the ashes were preserved and 
handed down in costly urns, as a sacred legacy to tlieir children. 
And superstition lent its aid to enforce the rites of burial, and 
to secure the sanctity of the grave. The souls of those whose 
bodies remained unburied were fabled in the mythology of the 
ancients, to wander a hundred weary years to and fro upon the 
banks of the river beyond which lay the Elysian fields, before 
it was permitted to them to pass over ; and the prayer of the 
wandering spirit of the shipwrecked philosopher was that a 
tew handfuls of dust might be cast — ' ter jndvere injecto ' — 
even by the hand of a stranger, upon his uncovered remains. 
The last degree of inhumanity, punished according to their 
notions of future punishment with the hottest torments of the 
damned, was for a victorious general to refuse to his vanquished 
enemy the privilege of burying their dead. The very religion 
of the ancients forbade the dissection of human corpses ; and 
such dissection was first practised not many centuries ago. 
Sir, these are feelings which must be respected, no matter, I 
repeat, whether the soul be mortal or immortal. But if immortal 
— and who so besotted as to doubt it? — how much more 
ought the frail tenement in which it has been inclosed, and 
upon whicli it may be that it now looks down in wistful soli- 
citude, be guarded with the most scrupulous veneration. No 
matter, either, whether death be an eternal sleep, as some vainly 
and blasphemously hold, or no more than a temporary slumber 
till 

"' Wrnpt ill fire the resilms of ether glow, 

Aud Ueaveu's last thunder shakes the earth below.' 



k LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM.' 45 

" But much more, even for the sake of the dead, ought 
protection, and the protection of law, to be extended to their 
bodies, if, as the Scri^Dtures of truth teach, there is to come a 
day when that great and tremendous Being who inhabits 
eternity shall judge both the quick and the dead — when tliis 
corruption shall put on incorruption, and this mortal immor- 
tality, and death be swallowed up in victory. He, then, who 
holds to the faith of the Christian religion, ought the more 
readily and sacredly to respect the sanctuary of the tomb. It 
is hard enough surely, Mr. Speaker, to bear the lengthened 
and wearisome ills of life without being denied even the cold 
repose of an undisturbed grave. There is anguish enough in 
passing down into the dark valley of the shadow of death 
without the superadded torment of the anticipated violation 
and dissection of our bodies. Shall the weary never be at 
rest ? I appeal to honorable gentlemen ; I demand of you 
each one, what would be your own feelings under such an 
anticipation ? But if you care not for yourself, what emotions 
would stir your bosom under the knowledge that the body of 
the cherished Avife of your youth, or of the favorite child of 
your old age, had been torn from the grave over which you 
had just bowed in sorrow your stricken soul, watering it with 
your tears, to be subjected to the merciless process of dissecting 
by the knife of the faculty, though done with never so much 
science ? 

" I am aware, Mr. SiDeaker, that the feelings of which I 
have just spoken do not touch the pocket. I know that they 
do not smack of money, and can not be coined into gold. 
They do not find exercise in the digging of a canal, nor in the 
constructing of a railroad, nor in the establishing of a bank. 
No ; they spring up and hang only as simple flowers over the 
pure fountains of the human heart. I know, too, the tendency 
of the age to grossness and sensualism ; to laugh at the mere 
emotions of our nature, and to centre all the care and protec- 
tion of private association and jrablic government upon property. 
But these. Sir, I repeat yet again, are not feelings to be despised. 
You protect against slander ; yet the sense of reputation is no 
more than a mere emotion. Sir, the protection of property is 
not the sole business of government ; nor is the protection of 
life. The ' pursuit of happiness ' also, in whatever form, is 
equally an object of governmental care, so far as such care ought 
to be extended to any object.'' 



46 LIFE OF CLEAIEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

On the 24th of the same month he made an elaborate 
speech against the Tax Bill, in which he thns indignantly 
repels the charge made against the Democratic party of 
designing to repudiate the kState debt : — 

'' The debt is upon us, and ■ it must be paid, paid to the 
uttermost farthing. The spectre must be exorcised, this 
devil must be cast out. There is no alternative between pay- 
ment and repudiation. And who Avill hesitate? Democrats, 
the Democrats of Ohio the advocates of repudiation ! Sir, I 
hurl back the slander with indignation. We are a debt-paying, 
a contract-abiding party. We will not stop to inquire by whom 
or for what this great debt was accumulated. It is enough to 
know that it is upon us. Though it were the most improvi- 
dent that ever hung upon a nation, yet shall it be paid — paid, 
I repeat, to the uttermost tarthing." 

In the same speech he drew the character of the " True 
Statesman," as he conceived it ; and as it was the ideal of that 
at which he constantly aimed himself, we present it entire: — 

"Politics is a science broader in its extent, as fixed yet 
more liberal in its principles, more profound and more diversi- 
fied in its objects, as intricate in its nature, more penetrating 
and controlling in its efiects, Avider far in its influence on the 
happiness of mankind — which is the great end of life — and 
nobler every way than all other human sciences put together. 
It is a science the province of which is to carry out, through 
the agency of man, the designs of the Deity himself. To 
comprehend such a science in its fullest extent is the labor of 
a life-time, and the business only of a Statesman. But by 
this lofty title I do not mean, in its present degraded accepta- 
tion, a miserable partisan, without talents, without cliaracter, 
full of the accumulated vices and deformities which make up 
the mere vulgar demagogue, a compound of all vilcnoss, the 
embodiment of everything despicable; Avhose very candor is 
hypocrisy, whose reason is prejudice, whose party is his god; 
Avlioso atom-intellect is exhausted in low intrigue, and his 
whole research in Ion "-buried falsehoods, to be refined and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 47 

tortured and galvanised into fresh-born calumnies ; or worse, 
prying with the instinct of a still lower and baser meanness 
into the sanctuary of private life and bed-chamber arrangement. 
I mean no such detestable character; nor yet one who has 
merely filled some legislative station with honor to himself and 
benefit to his inimediatc constituents. No : I mean a States- 
man, in the broadest, highest, most comprehensive sense — 'a 
mind to comprehend the universe' — bold, sublime, original ; 
from whose all-powerful grasp nothing can escape, to whose 
piercing gaze nothing is dark, nothing intricate, all clear and 
plain and luminous as the sun in the firmament ; for whose 
mighty compass immensity itself is scarce too great ; a mind 
inductive, philosophical, inventive, able to originate the 
mightiest and most extensive plans of national policy, not for 
a day, but for ages ; capable of the loftiest designs, the boldest 
conceptions, the noblest tlioughts; a mind that can take in 
at a single glance the whole compass of State affairs, yet at the 
same moment examine each separately without confusion, 
analysing, comparing, arranging, and harmonising all into one 
concordant wliole ; a mind sagacious, unerring, almost divine ; 
a mind that can range at will over all cognate subjects, can 
glance with the rapidity of thought through the dark vista 
of the past thousands of years, and in a moment restraining 
its flight, pierce with eagle gaze into the hidden recesses of the 
future, 'casting tlie nativity of unborn time,' providing against 
the storm before it has burst, treasuring up the accunuilated 
Avisdom of ages, and applying it to the exigencies of the 
present. A mind thus naturally gifted must have been de- 
veloped by years of laborious -reading, observation, and study; 
must have penetrated deep into human nature; must be filled 
with the whole history of past and ])rcscnt States, adornc<l with 
the treasures of science and literature, and enriclicd with 
all the multifarious stores of legal and political knowledge. 
Besides this, an American statesman must be profoundly versed 
In the history, the interests, separate and relative, of the States ; 
the institutions, political, literary, and religious, of his own 
country ; and must have studied the constitution, laws, nature, 
and powers of our ])ecidiar system of government with the 
deepest and most untiring research. And to these he must 
add all those qualities whi( li in public and private life can 
ennoble or adorn the human character. His, too, must not 



48 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGIIAM. 

have been the mere casual experience of a few months or years 
of legislation ; his whole life must have been devoted to it. 

"Such, Mr. Speaker, is the character Avhich I mean when I 
speak of a Statesman. But I do not affirm that it has ever, 
as I have drawn it, been exhibited in any age or country ; nor 
yet that it is wholly attainable by any mere 'man that -is born 
of woman.' Still less would I maintain that no one is fit for 
political life or station unless he be just such a statesman. 
Our condition, were such the case, Avould- be lamentable indeed. 
But the greatest abilities are demanded only for the highest 
stations and the greatest exigencies, which, comparatively, are 
few." 

]Mr. Yallandigham's first vote, given a few hours after he 
Mas sworn in, was in su])port of a resolution to open the 
sittings of the House with i^rayer, a majority of his party 
voting against it. Soon after, in reply to a member of his own 
side who complained that he (Mr. V.) was quite too courteous 
to the AThigs, he said, paraphrasing Burke, " that he hoped 
always so to be a Democrat as not to forget that he Avas a 
gentleman." About the same time a Whig correspondent of 
a newspaper, writing in reference to a violent speech by a 
Democratic member, said, " He was suitably replied to by C. 
L. Vallandigham, a young gentleman who is always as near 
right as party trammels will permit him to go, and sometimes 
a little more so." Thus his high moral character and urbane 
manners, together with diligent and laborious attention to his 
duties, secured to him the respect and good-Avill of all ; and 
entering the House utterly unknown, and the youngest member 
of it, his reputation was in three months established throughout 
the State. 

He returned home in March, 1846, and resumed the practice 
of the law with redoubled diligence ; but in June was required 
to canvass the county throughout, in order to secure a renomi- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 49 

nation to the Legislature. At the preceding session Colum- 
biana had been entitled to two members; this year to but one. 
Mr. Vallandigliam's former colleague appeared against him, 
and a vehement contest followed — the nomination being equiv- 
alent to an election, and made by ballot. The cause of the 
opposition to him was this : Some two years previously, the 
Legislature had passed a so-called " Retrenchment Act," reduc- 
ing all salaries to a contemptibly low standard ; Common Pleas 
Judges being paid seven hundred and fifty dollars a year, and 
members of the Legislature two dollars a day. Mr. Vallan- 
digham had taken some money with him to the State capital ; 
had lived " righteously and soberly," abstaining totally from 
liquors and other similar indulgences, and yet had been obliged 
to borrow money to enable him to return home. He voted and 
spoke earnestly for the repeal of the "Retrenchment Act." 
Fully aware that his course would be unpopular with many of 
liis constituents, he said : — " Entertaining these opinions, and 
believing that I am about to do right, I enter fearlessly upon 
the discharge of my duty, satisfied to abide the judgment of a 
constituency I am proud to represent. If that judgment be 
against me, I shall be content ; having still within my bosom 
the consoling consciousness that I dared to do what appeared 
to me just." After an animated contest of several weeks, he 
was renominated by a vote of two to one ; and at the following 
October election, in spite of a very vigorous opposition by the 
Whig party, was re-elected by a large majority. 

But although at this period of his life Mr. Vallandigham 

was full of business, diligently prosecuting the practice of 

law and taking a very active part in politics, he found time to 

devote to social and domestic matters. On the 27th of August, 

4 



50 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

1846, lie was married to Miss Louisa A. McMahon, a sister of 
the late Hon. John Y . L. JMclNIahon, of Baltimore, Maryland, 
and daughter of Mr. William McMahon, one of the purest and 
best of men, who lived and died a pious and honored citizen of 
Cumberland in the same State. 

The Legislature met on the 7th of December, 1846, and 
Mr. Vallandigham was complimented by the unanimous vote 
of his party for Speaker, The session was marked by the dis- 
cussion of three most important subject,s, Mr. Vallandigham 
taking a leading part as to all. 

To the prosecution of the war with Mexico, then vehemently 
opposed by the Whig party, he gave an earnest support. On 
the 15th of December he offered a series of resolutions, of 
which the following are two : — " That the Avar thus brought 
about and commenced by the aggressions and act of Mexico 
herself, having been recognised by Congress according to the 
forms of the Constitution, is a Constitutional war, and a war of 
the whole people of the United States, begun (on our part) 
and carried on in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of 
the Union. That this General Assembly has full confidence 
in the wisdom and the ability of the Executive of the United 
States to prosecute the war to a successful and speedy termina- 
tion by an honorable peace ; and that we hereby tender the 
cordial sympathies and support of this Commonwealth to the 
said Executive, in the further prosecution of the war." In 
these resolutions it will be seen that he took care to establish 
the grounds of his support, declaring it " a war brought about 
and commenced by the aggressions and acts of Mexico " ; •' a 
Constitutional war " ; " a roar carried on in pursuance of the 
Constitution and laws''; and a war, the object of which was 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 51 

not conquest and subjugation, but " a speedy, honorable peace J^ 
These resolutions lie supported in a strong speech ; and being- 
assailed personally in reply by a Whig member, he retorted 
sharply in a second speech of considerable length, in the course 
of which he answered the objection that the Legislature was 
intermeddling in that which did not concern it ; saying that, 
" as a friend to our peculiar system in its true sphit, and as a 
State-Eights man, he would be sorry to see the day when the 
individual States should cease to feel the deepest solicitude in 
the acts of the Government of the Union." 

The following is a brief extract from the speech : — 

" But the gentleman J&*om Harrison further charges me witli 
ambition. 

"'The noble Brutus 
Hath told you Csesar was ambitious; 
If it were so, it was a grievous fault, 
And grievously hath Ccesar answered iV 

Sir, I freely confess that I am not of so stoical a mould of 
mind as to be indifferent altogether to the honors and glories 
of the world. But mine, I trust, is that honorable ambition 
which seeks the attainment of ' noble ends by noble means.' 
If I am not without ambition, I yet hope that I shall be found 
'without. the illness which should attend it.' Of such ambi- 
tion I am not ashamed. But the gentleman misapprehends 
me. I did not speak of the ' high places ' of the State and the 
Union as the motives which control my speeches and move- 
ments in this House, or as fitting motives to govern any one. 
Far from it. I have never made office, or even honor, the aim 
or end of my ambition. They are desirable only so far as they 
enable the true patriot tlie more efficiently to do good for his 
country and for mankind, and not for their own sake. In this 
spirit and conviction I begin public life, and in it I trust to 
continue steadfast to the end." 

At the same session the " Missouri Question " was revived 
in the form of the " Wilmot Proviso," or proposed exclusion 



52 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM.- 

of Slavery from tlie Territories. In fourteen years the 
agitation terminated in Civil War. On the 16th of January, 
resolutions in favor of the " Proviso " were introduced by a 
Whig member from the Western Reserve. Mr. Vallandigham 
promptly moved to lay them upon the table, which was done. 
A few days later, being called up for discussion, he opposed 
them in an impassioned speech (briefly and imperfectly reported), 
declaring that the agitation could result only in civil war and 
disunion, and that he had spoken with great earnestness and 
feeling " because he felt called upon, as a patriot and citizen, 
to resist and expose every measure which might work in- 
calculable mischief, not only to ourselves, but to generations yet 
unborn." He further declared that whenever any question 
might arise involving the Union in the alternative, he would 
go with his might on that side — on the side of the Union, 
now and forever, one and inseparable. During the session two 
several petitions were presented by Whig members, praying 
the Legislature because of the annexation of Texas to "de- 
clare the Union dissolved, and withdraw the Ohio Senators 
and Representatives from Congress." Mr. Vallandigham 
voted for the motion in each case to reject the petition. 

But his ablest speech at this session was made in support 
of his bill to provide for calling a convention to amend the 
State Constitution. The bill received a majority but not a 
two-thirds vote as required, and therefore failed : but the 
speech attracted much attention throughout the State, and 
ultimately led to the passage of the bill at a subsequent 
session. To give a clear and satisfactory view of this speech 
would require copious extracts, and for these we have not 
space. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 53 

Taking an active part upon all important questions, Mr. 
Vallandigham again found it necessary to separate now and 
then from his party friends. Upon one of these occasions — 
on a bill to promote the cause of popular education, in which 
he took a deep interest — he said "he was sorry to part 
company with them on any question, but was not afraid to 
vote according to the dictates of his conscience. He had 
stood upon the floor before, and was ever proud to stand, even 
in a minority, when he could feel, as he now did, that he 
stood on the vantage-ground of truth." "**' 

Upon the question of the so-called " Black Laws," relating 
to the disabilities of negroes and mulattoes, he voted against 
their repeal, but supported a bill to submit the question to a 
vote of the people, expressly declaring that he so voted because 
the measure " would result in the most effectual putting down 
of this vexed question for perhaps twenty years to come. It 
would probably fall out as the question of negro suffrage in 
New York, where the people had voted against it by a 
majority of fifty thousand." 

Throughout this his second session Mr. Vallandigham 
maintained and added to the reputation wliich he had acquired 
at the first. A gentleman, an eminent lawj^er and politician, 
writing to a Cincinnati neutral paper, said of him in INIarch, 
1847 : "Although the youngest member of the Legislature, he 
came to be regarded long before the close of his first session as 
the leader of his party on the floor, which position he main- 
tained during the late short and active session Courtesy 

and urbanity in public as well as in private life have secured 
for him the esteem of all who know him without regard to 
party, while his abilities have commanded their respect. In 



54 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

all his intercourse with men there is evinced a frankness and 
an obliging generous feeling which, above all other traits of 
character, create and retain warm personal friends." 

At the close of the session he returned home and resumed 
the practice of law. His legislative course, so highly credit- 
able to himself, was universally approved by his constituents, 
and they were anxious to nominate him again; but he declined, 
and in a few months removed to another part of the State. 



CHAPTER VI. 

REMOVAL TO DAYTON, AND EDITORSHIP OF THE " EMPIRE." 

In August, 1847, Mr. Vallandigham removed to Dayton, 
Montgomeiy County, Ohio. Some months before, he had visited 
the place, was much pleased with the people, admired the 
beauty of the city, and the energy and enterprise everywhere 
exhibited, and determined to make it his future residence. To 
New Lisbon he was warmly attached : it was the place of his 
nativity ; and its healthfulness, the beauty of the surrounding 
scenery, the interesting associations connected with it of his 
vouth and early manhood — all these endeared it to him. But 
it was then a place of little enterprise, of little business, and 
he desired a wider field. On his removal to Dayton he at 
once entered into i^artnership in the practice of law with 
Thomas J. S. Smith, Esq., an able and experienced lawyer, 
and highly esteemed citizen. He also became connected with 
the Western Empire, the Democratic paper of the city, as part 
owner and editor. For this he had made arrangements before 
his removal, anticipating that it might be some time before his 
Income from the practice of law would be sufficient for the 
comfortable support of his family. This, however, was not 
his only motive for connecting himself with the press. When 
a boy he took a deep interest in the art of printing, and in- one 
of the offices in his native town he was accustomed to spend 



56 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

much time in setting type and making himself acquainted with 
the mysteries of the art. He also had a high appreciation of 
the power of the j)ress, and loved to wield it ; and when two 
years afterwards he disposed of his interest iu the paper, and 
surrendered the control of it into other hands, it was because 
his increasing law business demanded the whole of his time 
and attention. 

The following are extracts from his " Salutatory Address " 
on assuming editorial charge of the Empire September 2, 
1847 :— 

"We will contend calmly and resolutely for all salutary 
reforms; yet not as seeking to change existing institutions 
solely because they are old, nor clamoring for any innovation 
simply because it is new. ' To innovate is not to reform.' Yet 
no abuse shall escape us because covered by the prescrijition of 
ages, or protected by the canonising authority of great names. 

"J. radical Democrat as well from sober conviction as from 
impulse, we will maintain with calm but determined firmness 
the doctrines of radical i^^^ogrcssive Democracy. Ours, how- 
ever, is not the sans culotte democracy of the faubourg, calling for 
two hundred and seventy thousand heads ; but our own pecu- 
liar, rational, constitutional, American Democracy — that 
Democracy Avhicli is built upon law and order, and governed 
through reason and by justice — a Democracy the aim of which 
is to approximate our forms and administration of government 
as nearly to the standard of unmixed democracies as our cir- 
cumstances and the well-being of society will admit ; to leave 
as much power with the people in their unorganised capacity as 
is compatible with the necessities and efficient existence of 
government, delegating no more to theu' agents than is requisite 
for its just and legitimate purposes. We will contend to the 
utmost for the largest wholesome individual freedom of action 
iu all things, and oppose with our Avhole heart that i:)crnicious 
and anti-democratic intermeddling of Government "with those 
private affairs and relations between man and man which of 
right and upon policy ought to be left to the individual citizen 
himself. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 57 

"AVe will maintain the rigid of the majority to govern ; not 
as a natural right, inherent in majorities, but as a political 
right, subject therefore as well to the restrictions imposed upon 
it by our constitutions and laws (except in cases justifjang a 
resort to the ultima ratio populi, Revolutiox) as to the natu- 
ral and imprescriptible rights of the men composing minorities 
as individuals. We will war against despotism in all its forms ; 
and to us the despotism of the many is no more tolerable than 
the despotism of the few. AVe will maintain the icill of the 
people to he the supreme laic, subject to the eternal principles of 
right and justice, which it belongs not to the people to give or 
take away ; but M^e Avill seek for that will primarily in the Con- 
stitution and laws. The will of the peoi3le as exhibited 
through the press, through public assemblies, petitions, and 
above all the ballot-box, is in itself neither Constitution nor 
law; nor has it the force thereof, though entitled to great 
respect. But it is the highest evidence of what constitutions 
and laws the people desire to have oi'dained and enacted ; and 
to the framers of constitutions, and to legislators as such, we 
hold it to be, when fully and authentically ascertained, the 
supreme law, as above limited. 

"We will support the Coxstitutiox of the United 
States in its whole integrity, as it came to us from 'the 
fathers,' believing it to establish in principle the very best form 
of government which the wisdom of man ever devised. 

" We will protect and defend, according to our opportunities 
and abilities, the Union of these States, as in very deed 
the ' palladium of our political prosperity,' ' the only rock of 
our safety,' less sacred only than Liberty herself; and we will 
pander to the sectional prejudices, or the fanaticism, or wounded 
jn-ide, or disappointed ambition of no man, or set of men, 
whereby that Union shall be ])ut in jeopardy. 

" We will maintain the doctrine of strict construction, as ap- 
plied to all grants of power, in trust, to the agents and servants 
of the people, and especially to the Constitution of the United 
States ; and we will stand fist to the doctrine, also, of ' State 
Eights ' as embodied in ]\Ir. Madison's Virginia Report, and 
Mr. Jefferson's Kentucky Resolutions of '98. 

" Free trade, the constitutional treasury, equitable taxation 
assessed upon sound financial principles ; the collection of no 
more revenue in the treasury of the general and State govern- 



58 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

mont tliau will suffice under a wliolcsome administration of the 
finances ; the faithful and speedy discharge of the State debt, 
never to be incurred again in time of peace ; a revision of our 
State Constitution without further delay; wholesome and 
rational economy in all the departments and all the transac- 
tions of government far removed from the ' economy of mean- 
ness;' confidence in the people, jealousy of their agents; one 
term to the Presidency ; a fixed tenure to every office under the 
Federal Government which will properly admit of it; war 
before dishonor, but honorable peace- always to be preferred to 
war — these and other kindred principles and measures will 
receive our hearty support. 

" The cause of popular education shall receive in like man- 
ner our cordial sympathy and aid, as of the last necessity to 
the prosperity and permanence of our institutions. 

" To the present administration we will lend that support 
(whatever it is worth) which an honest, independent man may 
and ought to extend to the administration of the party to 
which he belongs. 

" On these, as on all subjects, our opinions shall be our own, 
and they shall be candidly, boldly, but courteously expressed. 
In our editorial intercourse with the public we shall seek no 
personal controversy, nor shall any one draw us into any con- 
troversy unbecoming a gentleman. Towar<Js all adversaries 
between whom and us there shall arise any matter of difference, 
we will exhibit proper respect — sometimes for their sakes, 
always for our own." 

This Salutatory Address exhibits his political creed more 
fully than any other of his writings, and it is for this reason 
that we make these copious extracts. The high appreciation 
of the value of the Union which he here expresses he ever re- 
tained, though during the war an earnest effort was made by 
his enemies to create the impression that he was in favor of its 
dissolution. 

Mr. Vallandigham proved himself an able and successful 
editor. His selections displayed good taste and sound judg- 
ment, and his editorials were written with force and ability. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 59 

The following, from the Empire of December 2, 18-17, is 
an extract from an editorial review of a sermon against the 
Mexican War, by a Methodist preacher : — 

*' The Saviour whose Gospel he professes gave no such ex- 
ample, taught no such doctrine. When the Pharisees, ' tempt- 
ing him,' asked whether it were lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, 
a question which then divided the Jewish nation, instead of 
pandering to their partisaa feelings and prejudices by arraying 
himself upon the one side or the other, he commanded them to 
' render unto Csesar the things which were Caesar's, and to God 
the things which were God's.' It is no part of the duty of 
the Christian minister, under the cloak of religion, and in the 
Pharisaical cant of being otherwise recreant to duty, to pro- 
nounce his judgment in the pulpit upon the great political 
questions which distract the generation in which he lives. 
There is an end of all purity and usefulness in the ministry, 
and with it of the usefulness and purity of religion also, if 
such a course be tolerated. If the clergy and the church are to 
be arrayed against the Democratic party on the question of this 
war, let us know it, that we may set our battle in array accord- 
ingly In attacking thus boldly the abuses of re- 
ligion by those who essay to preach it, we make no attack on 
religion itself. We desire to separate carefully and widely 
between the two. We were taught from earliest infancy, and 
have sought to practise the lesson ever since, to reverence the 
religion of the Bible, and to respect those at least of its min- 
isters who walk worthy of their vocation." 

The introduction of politics into the pulpit, the inter- 
meddling of ministers of the Gospel with the exciting political 
questions of the day, Mr. Vallandigham bitterly opposed and 
unsparingly denounced all his life. He regarded it as injuri- 
ous alike to Church and State ; as especially damaging to the 
cause of true and undefiled religion. 

Another of his leading articles while editor of the Empire 
was one affirming the right of revolution, but opposing what 
was then called " Doreism," or the asserted right of a mere 



60 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

numerical majority at any time to set aside existing rules and 
forms as prescribed by constitutions ; and by spontaneous move- 
ment, without form or color of law, to set up a new constitution 
and government : and another against the repeal, then agitated 
by the Abolitionists, of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. 

In June, 1849, he sold out his interest in the Empire. The 
following are the closing sentences of his valedictory in resign- 
ing liis position as editor. Referring to principles formerly 
annunciated, he says : — " We would stand or fall by them now 
as then, and throughout life. Of the vital importance to the 
welfare of the whole country in general, and the Democratic 
party in particular, of two, in an especial manner, of these 
principles, every hour has added to our deep conviction. And 
we would write them as in the rock uj)on the hearts of our 
friends forever : First, that which is really and most valuable 
in our American liberties depends upon the j)reservation and 
vigor of THE Union of these States; and therefore all 
and every agitation in one section, necessarily generating 
counter-agitation in the other, ought, from what quarter soever 
it may come, by every patriot and well-wisher of his country, 
to be ' indignantly frowned upon ^ and arrested ere it be too 
late." 

The summer and autumn of 1849 he spent in travel, and 
the winter in general reading and study. During the winter 
he was proposed and voted for, by his party in the Legislature, 
for Judge of the Common Pleas Court of the Montgomery 
circuit, but defeated by " the balance of power i)arty " because 
of his views upon the question of Slavery. In the spring of 
1850 he resumed the regular and diligent practice of the law 
with reputation and success. 



CHAPTER VII. 

EVENTS FEOM 1850 TO 1855. 

The changes wrought by time in our history since the 
year 1850 are so many and so radical, that it is difficult for 
men even of this generation, who were living at that time, to 
clearly recall to their memories the condition of aflfairs then, 
and the public sentiment which existed at that period. In 
those days the term Abolitionist was one of reproach; and 
although a strong anti-slavery sentiment existed all over the 
North, it was guided and controlled by a respect for the Con- 
stitution, kind feeling for the people of the South, and earnest 
love for the Union as made by our fathers. " There were 
giants, too, in those days " ; great men, honest men, who had 
no object in view in their political career but the honor and 
glory of their country, and the perpetuity of the Federal 
Union, just as it was made by the framers of the Constitution. 

Every intelligent reader is so familiar with the history of 
the Compromise of that year, that it is scarcely necessary to 
give more than a hasty review of the circumstances attending 
the passage of that important measure. The feelings of the 
majority of the people of the North uj)on the subject of slavery 
at that time are better and more concisely exj^ressed by an 
extract from a speech delivered by Mr. Holmes, of Massa- 
chusetts, many years before, than by any language we could 



62 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

use. It is as follows : — " "We are not the advocates or the 
abettors of slavery. For oiie, Sir, I would rejoice if there was 
not a slave on earth. Liberty is the object of my love, my 
adoration ; I would extend its blessings to every human being. 
Biit though my feelings are strong for the abolition of slavery, 
they are yet stronger for the Constitution of my country." Yet 
a great and growing party was arising in the United States — 
that which under the name of Republican triumphed in the 
election of 1860 — governed more as to policy by hatred of 
slavery and hostility to slaveholders than by love for the 
Union or regard for the Constitution. This party, not as yet 
distinctly recognised as a political organisation, had complete 
control of some of the Northern States, and held the balance 
of power in others. When the Compromise measures were 
finally passed through the j)atriotic efforts of Clay, Calhoun, 
and Webster, the anti-slavery men bitterly opposed them. The 
principal objection was the Fugitive Slave Act, incorporated in 
those measures. At the present time, when slavery is forever 
abolished, and when the Abolitionists of the country have 
triumj)hed, it would seem at first blush that the objections 
urged against that law were reasonable; but a calm and 
impartial examination of the question in the then condition of 
the country, and with the Constitution as it then stood, will 
satisfy the searcher after truth that the law was constitutional, 
and nothing more than the South was in justice entitled to. 

But the truth is that neither at that time, nor at any time 
since, could human wisdom have devised a fugitive slave 
law which would not have been either violently opposed or 
altogether disregarded in the Northern States. During the 
summer of 1849, the jieoijle of California, without any 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 63 

authority of Congress, acting under a proclamation of General 
Riley, then in command of that military district, framed a 
constitution excluding slavery. When Congress met in Decem- 
ber, 1849, application was made for its admission as a State 
under the constitution thus framed. A majority of the Repre- 
sentatives from the South were opposed to its admission under 
this constitution, which they claimed was irregularly formed 
and without authority of law. Many other irritating subjects 
involving the Slavery question, also agitated the minds of the 
people. A long contest for Speaker occurred, in which a con- 
siderable amount of sectional feeling was developed. After 
the election of the Hon. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker, 
the discussions in both the House and the Senate became very 
bitter and exciting. The gravest apprehensions very soon 
arose, that on account of the exasperated feelings aroused both 
North and South, a dissolution of the Union would occur ; 
and if the anti-slavery feeling had been but a little stronger, 
and the North had possessed the numerical majority that she 
had in 1860, it would have undoubtedly taken place at that 
time, or the country precipitated into a civil war, notwithstand- 
ing the efforts of Clay, Webster, and others to bring about 
reconciliation. Mr. Clay's Compromise proposed to admit 
California under the constitution formed in the manner above 
described ; to organize Territorial Governments for Utah and 
New INIexico, without any restriction of slavery ; to settle the 
question of boundary between New Mexico and Texas by 
negotiation Avith that State; to pass an efficient Act for the 
rendition of fugitive slaves, and to abolish slave-trade in the 
District of Columbia. These measures were introduced in the 
early part of 1850, at the first session of the Thu-ty-first 



64 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 

Congress. After a long and severe struggle, the plan of Com- 
promise proposed by Mr. Clay was substantially adopted, and 
the better class of people North and South were sanguine that 
a permanent peace between the sections was established. But 
in the North the Abolition agitators were determined that 
there should be no settlement of the Slavery question other 
than the complete destruction of the institution. Meetings 
were held all over the North to denounce the Compromise 
measures. A meeting of this kind was held at the City Hall 
in Dayton, on the 19th of October, 1850. The following is 
one of the resolutions rej)orted to this meeting : — " Resolved, 
That the Congress which could be so far frightened from its 
propriety, by the insolent bluster and bravado of a few slave- 
holders, as to pass an Act (the Fugitive Slave Act) so fraught 
with injustice, and so odious, deserves the rebuke of the people 
of these United States." Mr. Yallandigham was present at 
this meeting, and spoke earnestly in opposition to this resolution, 
and in favor of the Compromise policy which gave birth to 
the law. The Dayton Journal, a Whig paper, in an editorial, 
spoke in these terms of his speech on that occasion : — " His 
speech was ingenious and eloquent. His objection to the 
course proposed by the resolutions was, that it would lead to 
further agitation and tend to endanger the Union." This 
resolution was, however, adopted by the meeting; and another 
meeting was soon after called by the friends of the Compromise 
measures, which was held on the 26th day of October. A full 
account of this meeting, including Judge .Crane's letter, we 
publish below. The letter of Judge Crane is a complete 
answer, very concisely made, to tlie objections urged against 
the Fugitive Slave Law. There were no party distinctions at 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 65 

this meeting; the President was a prominent and influential 
Whig, three of the Vice-Presidents were Democrats and three 
were Whigs, and one Secretary was a Whig and the other a 
Democrat : — 

"public meeting in DAYTON. 

" Pursuant to a public call signed by over one hundred of the 
citizens of Montgomery County, a very large meeting assembled 
at the City Hall, in Dayton, on Saturday evening, October 26, 
1850. On motion of P. Green, Alex. Grimes, Esq., was called 
to the Chair. The meeting being called to order, on motion of 
C. L. Vallandigham, Esq., Dr. John Steele, Dr. J. A. Walters, 
Richard Green, David Cathcart, James McDaniel, and David 
Clark were elected Vice-Presidents, and Jos. G. Crane and 
David A. Houk, Secretaries. Mr. Vallandigham then read 
the correspondence between a committee of gentlemen and Hon. 
Jos. H. Crane, which was as follows : — 

" ' Dayton, Ohio,.October 33, 1850. 
" ' To the Hon. Joseph H. Crake :— 

" ' Sir : — The undersigned citizens of Montgomery County, 
concurring in the call just issued for a meeting of all those who 
are in favor of svistaining the recent efforts of the Executive 
and Congress of the United States, to compromise and adjust 
the vexed questions which for so long have agitated the country 
and endangered the stability of the Union and the peace and 
harmony of its different sections, and who desire that quiet, 
good feeling of fraternal affection, as in the earlier years of the 
Pepublic, shall once more and henceforward prevail between 
us and our brethren of the South, respectfully unite in the 
earnest request that, despite the many years which have crowned 
you with so honorable an old age, you will consent to preside 
at the meeting to be convened on the ensuing Saturday even- 
ing in the City Hall, for the j)urposes above expressed. 
" ' Very respectfully, &c., 

" ' C. L. Vallandigham, 
Luther Giddings, 
D. G. Fitch, 
Richard Green, 
T. J. S. Smith, 
Gilbert Kennedy. 
" ' To Hon. Joseph H. Crane, Dayton.' 



66 LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"judge c:aAXE',s keply. 

" ' Dayton, October 25, 1850. 

" ' Gentlemen : — Your letter of the 23d inst. ^vas handed 
to me yesterday. I should readily comjily with your request, 
if sanctioned by the meeting, if I A\ere able to do so. But in 
the present state of my health I am unable to attend, still less 
to take part in a public meeting which may and probably will 
be protracted to a late hour in the evening. 

" ' I most cordially concur in the wish you express that 
quiet, good feeling, fraternal aifection, and, may I add, the old 
good humor, as in the earlier years of the Republic, may once 
more and henceforward prevail betvv'een us and our brethren of 
the South. 

" ' While no one will question the right of the citizens indi- 
vidually or collectively to express their views and opinions on 
all questions affecting the public interest, it must be granted 
that those opinions, when publicly announced, arc equally the 
subject of discussion and criticism. 

" ' The resolutions adopted at a public meeting held in this 
city last week censure the Act of Congress of last session, com- 
monly called the Fugitive Slave Act, as "unjust and o]:)pres- 
sive, inconsistent with the spirit of our institutions and the 
rights of men under them, and disgraceful to the Government." 
Such are the general charges : the specifications are, that 
Marshals, &c., are compelled under heavy penalties to obey and 
execute process issued under this law, and subjected to liability 
for the escape of such fugitives, whether with or without their 
assent. This would seem rather an objection to tlie common 
law than to this particular Act of Congress. Sheriffs and 
other ministerial officers are compellable at common law to 
obey and execute all lawful process to them directed, and sub- 
jected to heavy penalties for neglect or refusal. The same 
common law makes the Sheriff, &l\, liable for the escape of a 
prisoner in his custady, whether voluntary or not. The 
Marshal by this Act is only placed in the same predicament and 
subject to the same responsibility as a Sheriff. 

"" ' I need only refer to the opinion of INIr. Crittenden, the 
Attorney-General, to disprove the specification that this Act 
renders ineffectual or suspends the writ of habeas corpus. This 
writ is a writ of right, and every Judge, on a proper applica- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 67 

tion to him, must issue it, and when the party is brought be- 
fore him must determine whether the imprisonment be legal or 
not. This writ can only be suspended by Congress in the cases 
specified in the Constitution. 

" ' The complaint that this law makes the petty officers of a 
court the Judges in questions of personal liberty and perpetual 
slaveiy, without appeal or review, applies with equal force to 
the Act of 1793, which was the law of the land for more than 
half a century. That Act gave the same summary remedy, 
authorised the arrest of the alleged fugitive by the claimant, 
his aii-ent or attornev, gave the Circuit and District Judges of the 
United States Courts, or any magistrate of any county, city, or 
town corporate where such arrest was made, jurisdiction to hear 
and determine, without a jury and without appeal or revievv^, 
and the certificate of such Judge or magistrate was a sufficient 
warrant to remove the fugitive to the State or Territory from 
Avhence he fled. 

" ' The principal difference in this respect between the Act 
of 1793 and this Act amendatory and supplementary thereto, is 
that commissioners appointed by the Circuit and District Courts 
of the United States are substituted for the county, city and town 
magistrates ; and though petty officers, or rather Judges of limited 
jurisdiction, will probably be found quite as well qualified to hear 
and determine as their predecessors under the Act of 1793. 
Judge Story, in his commentaries on the Constitution, has shown 
the reason and necessity of this summary remedy, adopted in 
1793 and continued under the amendatory and supplemental 
Act of 1850. 

" ' It is further objected that this Act, under certain circum- 
stances, compels the removal of the fugitive to the State from 
whence he fled, by the Marshal, and at the expense of the United 
States. The Constitution secures to the owner the right of 
reclaiming his slave in any State into which he has escaped. 
The Supreme Court of the United States has decided that Con- 
gress has the sole and exclusive power of legislation on this sub- 
ject, and to carry into eifect this provision of the Constitution, 
the Act of 1793 as well as that of 1850 has established tribunals 
to hear and determine cases of this description. But the 
jurisdiction of a court would be maimed and defective without 
the power of carrying its judgments into effectual execution. 
This amendatory Act of 1850 has guarded against the forcible 



68 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

rescue^of one adjudged to be a fugitive and bound to service, 
by requiring the Marshal to remove him to the State from 
whence he fled, and empowering him to summon assistance to 
overcome such apprehended force. The Sheriff may command 
the power of his county where the process of the court is 
forcibly resisted*. This Act in the case specified gives the 
Marshal a similar power to enforce the judgment of the court. 
Have we not reason to believe that in many cases such judg- 
ments would prove wholly nugatory and unavailing without 
some such provision for enforcing them ? But " it is on the 
oath of the claimant and at the expense of the United States." 
He is the one most likely to be apprised of an intended rescue, 
and to feel apprehensions of its success, and is the proper 
person to make the affidavit. And why should this extra- 
ordinary expense fall on the claimant ? The Constitution has 
secured his right of recapture ; he has established that right 
before the tribunal created by law to hear and determine such 
questions ; and ought not the Government to secure to him the 
benefit of such judgment against unlawful force and violence? 
" ' I have gone through the specifications in support of the 
general charges contained in the resolutions. However they 
may affect others, they do not satisfy my mind that this amend- 
atory and supplemental Act deserves the character given to it by 
those resolutions. I am, gentlemen, 

" ' Very respectflilly yours, &c. 

" ' Joseph H. Ceane. 

'"To Messrs. Green, Kennedy, Giddings, Vallakdigham, Fitch, 
and Smith.' 

" On motion of Major L. Giddings, a committee of nine 
were appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sense 
of the meeting, whereupon the Chair appointed the following 
gentlemen : — C. L. Vallandigham, E. W. Davics, D. G. Fitch, 
D. Z. Pierce, Thos. J. S. Smith, Jonathan Harshman, Alex. 
H. Munn, and Daniel Kichmond. 

" Major Giddings was then called for, and responded in a 
brief address, sustaining the recent Fugitive Slave Law as an 
important and indispensable feature of the Compromise. 

" The committee being ready to report, through their Chair- 
man, C. L. Vallandigham, the resolutions were read, which 
were as follows : — 



LIFE OP CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 69 

" ' Whereas, in the opinion of the meeting here assembled, 
a crisis of imminent peril exists in the affairs of the nation, 
which demands of every citizen that it be written upon his 
forehead what he thinks of the Republic ; and Wliereas, also, 
Congress, at the session just adjourned, 'after many months of 
wearisome and dangerous excitement and agitation, have pre- 
sented to the people of the United States a system of measures 
designed to settle and put at rest forever the vexed questions 
and embittered strifes which so far and for so long have 
weakened the ties of common interests and a common brother- 
hood, and periled the existence even of the Union itself — we, 
a portion of the people of Montgomery County, in public 
meeting assembled, do declare and resolve : 

" ' 1. That we are for the Union as it is and the Constitu- 
tion as it is, and that we will preserve, maintain, and defend 
both at every hazard, observing with scrupulous and uncalcu- 
lating fidelity every article, requirement, and compromise of 
the Constitutional compact betAveeu these States, to the letter 
and in its utmost spirit, and recognising no " higher law " be- 
tween which and the Constitution we know of any conflict. 

" ' 2. That the Constitution was " the result of a spirit of 
amity and of that mutual deference and concession which the 
peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable ; " 
that by amity, conciliation, and compromise, alone can it and 
the Union which it established be preserved; and that it is 
the duty of all good citizens to frown indignantly upon every 
attempt, wheresoever or by whomsoever made, to array one 
section of the Union against the other ; to foment jealousies 
and heart-burnings between them by systematic and organized 
misrepresentation, denunciation, and calumny, and thereby to 
render alien in feeling and aifection the inheritors of so noble 
a common patrimony, purchased by our fathers at so great 
expense of blood and treasure. 

" ' 3. That as the friends of peace and concord — as lovers 
of the Union, and foes, sworn upon the horns of tlie altar of 
our common country, to all Avho seek and all that tends to its 
dissolution — we have viewed with anxiety and alarm the perilous 
crisis brought upon us by years of ceaseless and persevering 
agitation of* the Slavery question in its various forms; and 
that the Executive and Congress of the United States have 
deserved well of the Republic for theii patriotic efforts so to 



70 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

compromise and adjust this vexed question as to leave no good 
cause for clamor or olience by any portion of the Union. 

" ' 4. That a strict adherence in all its parts to the Com- 
promise thus deliberatjsly and solemnly effected, is essential to 
the restoration and maintenance of peace, harmony, and fra- 
ternal aifection between the different sections of the Union, and 
thereby to the preservation of the Union itself; and that good 
PAiTii imperatively demands that adherence at the hands of 
all good citizens whether of the North or of the South. 

" ' 5. That, believing this Compromise the very best which, 
in view of the circumstances and temper of the times, could 
have been attained, we are for it as it is, and opposed to all 
agitation looking to a repeal or essential modification of any 
of its parts ; and that we will lend no aid or comfort to those 
who for any j)urpose seek further to agitate and embroil the 
country upon these questions. 

"'6. That ''all obstructions to the execution of the laws, 
all combinations and associations, under w^hatever jdausible 
character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract or 
awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted au- 
thorities, are destructive of the fundamental principle of 
our institutions and of fatal tendency " ; that all such efforts, 
wherever made or by Avhomsoever advised, find no answering 
sympathy in our breasts — nothing but loathing and contempt ; 
and that wo hereby pledge ourselves to the country, that so 
far as in us lies, the Uniox, the Co^'STIT^TIOX, and the Laws, 
must and shall be maintained. 

'"7. That the resolutions adopted in this Hall on the 19th 
of October do not meet our concurrence either in language, 
temper, or object ; that in the opinion of this meeting they do 
not express the sentiments of the peopleof this county, and will 
not by them be endorsed ; that we regard the Fugitive Slave 
Act of 1850 as a Constitutional and necessary e!:iactment — 
an amplification and fulfilment of the Constitutional compact, 
founded Ylirectly upon and demanded by it, and no 'more 
stringent than that compact authorised and the exigencies of 
the times required.' 

" Geo. W. Houk, Esq., then moved the adoption of the 
resolutions, whereupon Edward ^Y. Davies, Esq., in a very 
courteous manner, desired that if there were any in the meeting 
who ^Yere opj)osed to the sentiments exjiressed in the resolutions. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLAIS'DIGHAM. 71 

that they would give a full aud free expression of their opinions, 
and assured them that the meeting would hear them with the 
most respectful attention. He desired this, and extended the 
invitation, hoping that if such sentiments Avere entertained, the 
invitation might be responded to, inasmuch as he was open 
to conviction and always wished to hear both sides of all 
questions. 

" There being no response to the invitation, T. J. S. Smith, 
Esq., was called for and responded in a short speech, giving his 
entire approbation to the object of the meeting and the resolu- 
tions. 

" C. L. Vallandigham, Esq., was next called to the stand, 
and responded, sustaining* the law and the Constitution, and 
reviewed at considerable length the objections to the law. 

" The question was then put ujjon the adoption of the 
resolutions and unanimously carried." 



Mr. Vallandigham was warmly and enthusiastically in 
favor of the Compromise Measures of 1850, including the 
Fugitive Slave Law, not because he was a pro-slavery man 
but because he believed that slavery was recognised and pro- 
tected by the Constitution. In this view he was sustained not 
only by the ablest statesmen of the Northern States, but also by 
the decisions of the most eminent Judges of the same section. 
Judge Baldwin, a distinguished Judge from the Xorth, a 
Justice of the Supreme Court, said that the right of Southern 
men to reclaim fugitives from labor (slaves) was the corner- 
stone of the Union, without which, he avowed in a judicial 
decision, it would never have been established ; and Judge 
Story, that eminent jurist, said, in the case of Prigg ts. Penn- 
sylvania — speaking of the section of the Constitution under 
which the law was made — " it cannot be doubted that it con- 
stituted a fundamental article, without the adoption of which 
the Union could not have been formed." 



72 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

Mr. Vallandigham recognised in 2}olitical matters no higher 
law than the Constitution of his country. 

During the years 1850 and 1851, his practice largely in- 
creased ; and although his health was not as firm as it became 
at a later period of his life, he applied himself with intense 
diligence and earnestness to his j)rofessional duties. 

At the Democratic Convention in August, 1851, he was a 
candidate for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, but after an 
animated contest, and a very flattering vote, was defeated. 
Edwin M. Stanton (afterwards the famous War Secre- 
tary), and Hon. Allen G. Thurman, were candidates before the 
same convention for Supreme Judge, and were both defeated. 
The Hon. George E. Pugh was nominated for Attorney-Gen- 
eral. Mr. Vallandigham did efficient service in stumping the 
State in the campaign following, which resulted in a Demo- 
cratic majority of about twenty-seven thousand. 

In August, 1852, notwithstanding strong opposition, he was 
nominated as the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 3d 
District, Avhicli was then composed of the counties of Mont- 
gomery, Butler, and Preble. The convention met at German- 
town, in Montgomery County. The vote on the nomination 
stood for Vallandigham 91, for P. P. Lowe 49, and for King 
18. Mr. Vallandigham conducted the canvass with great in- 
dustry and energy, attending and addressing meetings in almost 
every township in the District, but was unsuccessful. The 
majority against him, however, was only 147 in a vote of about 
twenty thousand. Some disaffected Democrats voted for Mr. 
Campbell, his competitor, who also received the support of the 
Abolition, or Liberty party. The Liberty party voted against 
Mr. Vallandigham because of his earnest advocacy and sap- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 73 

port of the Compromise Measures. They acknowledged his 
ability aud integrity, and their Central Committee, in a circular 
published immediately after the election, thus refer to him : — 
" In opposition to Mr. Campbell, the Democratic party had 
nominated C. L. Vallandigham, a lawyer of high standing, an 
eloquent and ready debater, of gentlemanly deportment and 
unblemished ^^I'ivate character, and untmng industry and 
energy. But he was known to all to be an ultra jn'o-slaver}- 
man (anti-abolitionist ) ; he undertook with a relish to carry 
the load of the Compromise Measures, the Fugitive Slave 
Law included, and he- broke down under the burden." 

During the summer of 1853, in comj)any with his brother- 
in-law, John V. L. McMahon, Esq., of Baltimore, he took a 
long and delightful journey through the mountains of Virginia. 
Starting from Cumberland, Maryland, they proceeded by easy 
stages, often stopping for days in a neighborhood to .gun 
and fish, through liomney, Virginia, Moorefield, Franklin, 
McDowell, and the Greenbrier Springs, to an obscure little hotel 
in the mountains near the last-named place. Here they spent 
several days in trout-fishing and exploring the mountain 
heights around them. They returned northward in the same 
leisurely manner, travelling much in the way described in the 
interesting work of Col. Strother, Virginia Illustrated. In 
after-days both of these eminent men were accustomed to descant 
with the highest pleasure on the incidents connected with this 
journey, and Mr. Vallandigham often referred to that period 
as one of the happiest of his life. His health was much im- 
proved by this journey; and the intimate converse with a man 
of so remarkable ability as ]\Ir. McMahon, and the reflections 
awakened and meditations indulged in amidst the grand scenery 



74 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

through which they passed, had no doubt an equally happy 
effect upon his mind. It was singular that these men, who 
had been so intimate and so warmly attached though differing 
widely in many respects, should have died wdthin a very few 
hours of each other. United in life, — "tried friends, fond 
brothers," — they were not long separated. 

In 1854 Mr. Vallandigham was again nominated, this tiriic 
with but little opposition, for Eepresentative in Congress. 
Meantime, since 1852 great changes had occurred in the politics 
of the country. The Whig party had perished : it did not long 
survive the loss of its great leaders, Henry Clay and Daniel 
"Webster, both of whom died in 1852. In opposition to the 
Democracy w^as arrayed the wonderful strength, though it was 
evanescent, of the Mystic Brotherhood, the American or Know- 
nothing party. A storm of indignation too liad been aroused 
in the Xorth by the passage of the Nebraska Bill, and by w'hat 
was denounced as the violation of the Missouri Coinpromise. 
The Hon. Lewis D. Campbell was again nominated against 
him. The campaign was active and animated. INIr. Vallan- 
digham denounced the Know-nothing order in the severest 
terms everywhere in the district, yet tow^ards the close of the 
canvass the excitement w-as raised to fever heat by the report, 
widely circulated and most emphatically affirmed, that he was 
himself a member of the order. In Butler County this excite- 
ment w^as greatly augmented by many bets being offered by 
Mr. Vallandigham's friends and taken by his opponents, that 
the allegation made against him was untrue. Several affrays 
growing out of this charge took place in different parts of 
the district. Two of the most prominent and respectable 
gentlemen of the city of Hamilton became so enraged in a dis- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 75 

cussion upon the subject, that from words they came to blows, 
and quite a desperate rencounter occurred, in which the Demo- 
crat, a prominent politician and then sheriff of the county, was 
the victor, and thus acquired the title, which he bore for many 
years, of the " fighting sheriff." It is proper to say that he 
was not the aggressor. On Monday before the election Mr. 
Vallandigham went down to Hamilton, and before Judge Jo- 
siali Scott, afterwards of the Supreme Court of Ohio, made 
solemn oath that he was not and never had been a memliTer 
of the organization. The manner in which the report gained 
such strength and credence, was this : Some days before the 
election one of Mr. Yallandigham's political opponents, presi- 
dent of a Know-nothing lodge, came up from Hamilton to 
Da}i:on, and induced the president of a Know-nothing lodge 
in the latter city to sign a statement that Mr. Vallandigham 
was a member of his lodge. This was taken back to Hamilton, 
and was considered so authoritative that many were induced 
to stake money upon its truth. But the person who made the 
statement afterwards swore solemnly that it was untrue, and 
that so far as he knew, Mr. Vallandigham never belonged to 
the Know-nothing order. In fact, Mr. Vallandigham early 
learned from a personal friend who did belong to the order, 
all about it, its ritual, its signs, grips, &c., and immediately 
expressed his opposition to it and took the first public oppor- 
tunity to denounce it. 

The year 1854 was one of disaster to the Democracy; the 
party was everywhere defeated, and Mr. Vallandigham fared 
no better than his brethren elsewhere. The majority against 
him was 2565, although he ran between four and five hundred 
ahead of the State ticket in the district. He took his defeat in 



76 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 

tlie most philosophical manner jiossible, and again concentrated 
his energies upon the practice of law. 

During the campaign of 185-i his son Charles was born, and 
Mr. Vallandigham's letters about this time to his relatives and 
most intimate friends were more devoted to accounts of domestic 
affairs than the discussion of politics. Mr. Vallandigham has 
often been denounced as a cold-hearted, ill-tempered man by 
those who cannot understand that the hand which is strongest 
in the contest with men may be the tenderest and most gentle 
in the family circle. Children always by instinct seemed to 
love him ; and it was his delight, when relieved for a time of 
the cares of the world, to watch their innocent gambols and 
take part in their amusements. His was a stormy and busy 
life, however, and but little time was granted him in which to 
unbend his brows and give way freely to the natural feelings 
of a warm and affectionate heart. 

The winter and spring passed pleasantly over his head; all 
of his time which he could spare from his office being spent 
in his own household, in the society of his family and friends, 
and in general reading. It Avas about this time that he came 
to the conclusion that it Avas scarcely jiossible for the country 
to escape a great civil war. Resolved to do what he could to 
avert it, he determined to make a speech of warning to the 
Democracy on this subject. This speech he delivered before a 
Democratic meeting in Dayton on the 29th of October, 1855, 
and it was one of the ablest and most eloquent speeches of his 
life. It was a searching and exhaustive review and exposition 
of the rise, progress, and full development of the Abolition 
movement in the United States ; and its purpose was to bring 
the Democratic party up to meet the slavery issue fairly and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 77 

boldly, and thus to restore it to sound doctrine and discipline, 
and therefore to power and usefulness. Firmly believing that 
the continued agitation of the Slavery question Avould result in 
civil war, and perhaps in a dissolution of the Union, he pointed 
out with earnestness the duties of the hour and the danger 
impending the country. 

This speech excited much interest and attention : by request 
of those Avno heard it, it was printed in pamphlet form, and 
widely circulated. It was highly lauded even by some of his 
political opponents. The Dayton Empire thus speaks of it : — 

" Mr. Vallandigham opened the meeting in a powerful 
speech. His argument upon the Slavery question was one of 
the most connected, logical, forcible and brilliant arguments 
that we have ever listened to. He reviewed the whole subject, 
he went over the whole field, and there was no candid man 
present who did not feel that he had triumphantly vindicated 
Democratic principles and Democratic policy. He Avas fre- 
quently interrupted by loud bursts of aj)plause. . . . Mr. 
Vallandigham's effort was the best of his life. We have heard 
many say that it was the very best political speech that they 
ever heard; and if we may judge from the applause with which 
he was greeted, this opinion was not confined to a few." 

The following is from the Dayton Journal, a Whig 
paper : — 

" Having some curiosity to learn the precise object of the 
meeting advertised by the Democracy for Monday evening, we 
took a seat in the City Hall, and listened to the speech of Mr. 
Vallandigham from beginning to the end. It would be unfair 
to deny to the"" effort of Mr. V. signal ability, ingenuity, and 
eloquence, or to refuse to admit that, considering his strong 
Democratic proclivities, there was more of fairness in his man- 
ner of treating questions of a ])urely partisan character than 
we had been led to expect. His detail of the rise, progress, 
and combinations of ' third parties,' or ' isms,' was interesting 
and instructive. His statement of the introduction of slavery 



78 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

into this country, and the agencies by wliicli it was accom- 
plished and the traflic in slaves upheld, though not unfamiliar 
to many persons, might be considered ^vith profit by a great 
many more. But with all this there Avas a disposition to glo- 
rify and uphold the Democratic ])arty which v.e confess was 
altogether unpalatable to the old-fashioned AMiiggisni with 
which we have been indoctrinated ; though it is to be stated by 
way of offset, that JNIr. Vallandigham was at times not a little 
severe upon the inconsistency and subserviency of this same 
Democratic party. 

" The principal demonstration of Mr. Vallandigham was 
against fanaticism and sectionalism, and here much that he 
said was just to the point. He argued in favor of confining 
questions of morals and ijolitics to their legitimate and appro- 
priate spheres, and against all stirring up of strife betM^een the 
North and the South. He traced opposition to the enforce- 
ment of the Fugitive Slave Law to hostility to the Constitu- 
tion itself, and a jiretcnded responsibility in the North for 
the ' sinfulness ' of slavery as the fruitful soia-ce of the feeling 
of alienation which had been engendered between the North 
and the South. He contended that with the alleged sinfulness 
of slavery the North had nothing to do. It was enough for 
the people of the North to know that the ' peculiar institution 
was sustained by the Constitution.' His object was not to dis- 
cuss the evils or the sinfulness of slavery, or to express any 
opinion in regard to its evils or its merits. He was anxious to 
meet and repel every attempt to make the existence of slavery 
in the South, or elsewhere, a pretext for the formation of sec- 
tional parties which must endanger the perpetuity of the 
Union." 

The following are some of the closing sentences of the 
speech : — 

" All this, gentlemen, the spirit of Abolition has accomplished 
in twenty years of continued and exhausting labors of every 
sort. But in all that time not one convert has it made in the 
South, not one slave emancipated, except in larceny and in 
fraud of the solemn compacts of the Constitution. Meantime 
public opinion has wholly, radically changed in the South. 
The South has ceased to denounce, ceased to condemn slavery, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 79 

ceased even to palliate, and begun now almost as one man to 
defend it as a great moral, social and political blessing. The 
bitter and proscriptive warfare of twenty years has brought forth 
its natural and legitimate fruit in the South. Exasperation, 
hate and revenge are every day ripened into fullest maturity 
and strength, and now needs but the acts of the North to unite 
in solemn league and covenant to resist aggression even unto 
blood. 

" I know well, indeed, Mr. President, that in the evil day 
that has befallen us, all this and he who utters it shall be 
denounced as ' pro-slavery ;' and already from ribald throats 
there comes up the slavering, drivelling, idiot epithet of ' dough 
face.' Again, bo it so. These, Abolitionists, are your only 
weapons of warfare, and I hurl them back defiantly into your 
teeth. I speak thus boldly because I speak in and to and for 
the North. It is time that the truth should be known and 
heard in this age of trimming and subterfuge. I speak this 
day not as a Northern man, nor a Southern man, but, God be 
thanked, still as a United States man, with United States prin- 
ciples ; and though the Avorst happen which can happen, though 
all be lost, if that shall bo our fate, and I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of political death, I vrill live by them and 
die by them. If to love my country, to cherish the Union, to 
rovcre the Constitution ; if to abhor the madness and hate the 
treason which would lift up a sacrilegious hand against either ; 
if to read that in the past, to behold it in the present, to foresee 
it in the future of this land, which is of more value to us and 
the world for ages to come than all the multiplied millions who 
have inhabited Africa from the creation to this day — if this is 
to bo pro-slavery, fdien in every nerve, fibre, vein, bone, tendon, 
joint and ligament, from the topmost hair of the head to the 
last extremity of the foot, I am all over and altogether a pro- 
slavery man. 

" The true and only question now before you is Avhether 
you will have union, with all its numberless blessings iu the 
past, present and future, or disunion and civil war, Avith all 
the multiplied crimes, miseries and atrocities which human 
imagination never conceived and human jien never can 
poi'tray. 

" I speak it boldly, I avow it publicly : it is time to s]>eak 
thus, for political cowardice is the bane of this as of all other 



80 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

republics. To be true to our great mission and to succeed in 
it, you must take open, manly, one-sided ground upon the 
Abolition question. In no other "way can you now conquer. 
Let us have, then, no hollow compromise ; no idle and mistimed 
homilies upon the sin and evil of slavery in a crisis like this; 
no double-tongued, Janus-faced, Delphic responses at your State 
conventions. No ! fling your banner to the breeze and boldly 
meet the issue : Patriotism above mock philanthropy ; the 
Constitution before anv miscalled hio-her law of morals or 

-I • " 

religion ; and the Union of more value than many negroes. 

" If thus, Sir, we are true to the country, true to the Union 
and the Constitution, true to our principles, true to our cause 
and to the grand mission which lies before us, we shall turn 
back yet the fiery torrent which is bearing us headlong down 
the abyss of disunion and infamy deeper than plummet ever 
sounded. But if in this day of our trial we are found false to 
all of these — false to our ancestors, false to ourselves, false to 
those who shall come after us ; traitors to our country and to 
the hopes of free government throughout the globe — Bancroft 
will yet write the last sad chapter in the history of the American 
Republic." 

To those who have grown up since the new era of emanci- 
pation — to whom the triumph of Abolitionism, even at the 
cost of a bloody civil war, appears to be a glorious progressive 
movement — it may seem that the vigorous defence of the rights 
of tJie South, and the violent opposition to Abolitionism of 
]Mr. A^allandigham and other Northern men, was uncalled for 
and improper. Before, however, they denounce these men or 
harshly condemn their course, let them carefully examine the 
past history of the country. In such investigation they will 
learn some facts that may modify their views and soften the 
asperity of their feelings, and teach them wholesome lessons of 
charity. They will learn that the stern old Puritans, from 
whom they are proud to claim their descent, were many of 
them slaveholders, holding not only negroes, but also Indians 



LIFE OF CLEilEXT L. VALLAXDIGHAil. 81 

in bondage ; that the institution of slavery existed in nearly- 
all the States of the Union at the time of the adoption of the 
Constitution; that it Avas recognised and protected hy that 
Constitution ; that probably a majority of the framers of that 
instrument were slaveholders ; that the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was drawn up by a slaveholder ; that a large propor- 
tion of the great men in the earlier days of the Republic who 
have adorned the pages of our history, were slaveholders ; and 
if we were to strike from our annals the names of those illus- 
trious men, but a barren list would be left of our heroes and 
statesmen. AVe should have no Jefferson or Madison, no 
Chief-Justice Marshall or William Wirt, no Clay, or Calhoun, 
or Jackson; and above all, no Washington. They should 
call to mind the fact that the emancipation of the slaves 
in the Northern States was not a sudden thing, nor entirely 
brought about by feelings of humanity ; that it was gradual, 
and that a large number of slaves in the Xorth were sold to 
the South by their owners before emancipation laws had been 
enacted, or at least before they had gone into operation. Xor 
should it be forgotten that the emancipation of the slaves in 
the South was not the result of any great moral feeling or 
humanitarian impulse on the part of its authors. It was a 
war measure, just as their enfranchisement was accomplished, 
because those who effected it regarded it as a political necessity, 
in order to preserve the power of tlie ReiDublican party and to 
control the politics of the coimtry. 

Although j\Ir. Vallandigham was always opposed to Aboli- 
tionism, it was simply because the Slavery agitation disturbed 
the peace and harmony of the country, assailed the principle 
of State Rights, and threatened a dissolution of the Union. 
6 



82 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

He was no advocate of the perpetuity of the institution. He 
believed that ultimately, Avithout any shock to our political 
system, it would be abolished — ^gradually, and by the action 
of the Slave States themselves: this he considered the only 
wise and safe plan, and for this he was willing to wait. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

ELECTION TO COXGEESS IN 1856, AND CONTEST FOR THE 



SEAT. 



On the 28th day of July, 1856, the Democratic Convention 
to nominate a candidate for Congress from the 3d District of 
Ohio, liiet at Eaton, in Preble County. After duly organising, 
the names of Mr. Isaac Robinson, Hon. William Kino-, and 
Judge Kinder, that had been presented, were withdrawn, and 
on motion of Col. Hendrickson, Mr. Vallandigham was nom- 
inated by acclamation. 

It was the year of the first struggle for the Presidency by 
the Republican or Abolition party, now consolidated by the 
total dissolution of the Whig party. The Presidential canvass 
was extremely violent ; but in the Third District it was wholly 
forgotten in the terrible bitterness of the Congressional contest. 
Nothing equal to it had ever occurred in the United States. 
The Abolition party had renominated ^Mr. Campbell, who had 
twice before been Mr. Vallandigham's successful competitor. 
For three months, day and night, every energy of the candi- 
dates and their respective parties M'as exhausted ; and at the 
end of the canvass, Mr. Campbell appeared by the official 
count to be elected by nineteen majority. Gross and palpable 
frauds had been committed by the successful party ; and upon 
this groun.d, and because a nmubcr of negro votes liad been 



84 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

cast for liis comiactitor, the friends of Mr. Vallaudigham de- 
manded that he should contest the election. He consented, 
and on the 25th of October served on Mr. Campbell a notice 
of contest. A technical objection having been suggested to the 
sufficiency of this notice^ he avoided it by serving the notice 
again on the 29th of December, 1856. On the 27th of Jan- 
uary, 1857, he received a formal reply to the notice, assigning 
the reasons Avhy the contestee would insist upon his right to the 
seat. The contestant commenced taking depositions in support 
of his claims, in Butler County, on the 2d of February, 1857, 
represented by his attorney, F. Vanderveer, Esq. (afterwards 
Colonel and then General in the Federal army), the contestee 
being represented by N. C. McFarland, Esq. From the 20th 
to the 28th of March testimony on his behalf was taken in 
Montgomery County, J. A. McMahon, Esq., acting as attorney 
for the contestor, and F, P. Cuppy, Esq., for the contestee. On 
account of the expiration of the sixty days limited by law from 
the time of giving notice, the contestant was unable to take 
any testimony in Preble, the other county of the District. 
The contestee did not commence taking testimony on his be- 
half until wdthin eleven days of the expiration of the period 
limited by law ; and about that time wrote to Mr. Vallaudig- 
ham, proposing to waive all technicalities, and each to i)roceed 
to take further testimony in the case. Mr. Vallaudigham re- 
fused to accede to this proposition, but wrote to ]Mr. Campbell, 
saying that he was willing to waive all advantages as well sub- 
stantial as technical, and at such time as the Governor of the 
State might appoint, or if the contestee should prefer it, on the 
second Tuesday of October following, to submit again the 
question to the people of the District for their final decision. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 85 

To this proposition Mr. Campbell made no reply, and so the 
matter rested till, the first of December. 

In June, 1857, occurred the Ohio rebellion. The deputies 
of the United States Marshal of the Southern District of Ohio, 
in the execution of a regular judicial process, issued under the 
Fugitive Slave Act, took in custody several slaves. They were 
pursued by a body of armed men, more than fifty in number, 
from Champaign County, through Clark into Green County, 
and there attacked and overpowered and the negroes rescued. 
The assailants of the Deputy Marshals were acting by virtue 
of a writ of habeas corpus, under a recent law of Ohio which had 
been passed for the very purpose of obstructing the execution of 
the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act in that State. This 
writ had been issued by the Probate Judge of Champaign 
county, and was directed to the sheriff of that county, directing 
him to take the prisoners from the Marshals. The Marshals, 
acting under the authority of the United States laws, believing 
that authority to be paramount, resisted the sheriff, and were 
therefore arrested on State process before a Justice, and com- 
mitted to jail. To discharge them from imprisonment a habeas 
corpus was issued from the United States Court at Cincinnati. 
In the feverish state of the public mind upon slavery, this of 
course excited much attention in all parts of the State, and 
created much feeling. The Abolitionists deeply resented the 
action of the United States authorities ; and although the statute 
under Avhich the Government officers had been obstructed in the 
performance of their duties was clearly a nullification of one of 
the most important laws of the United States, one made under 
a special section of the Constitution, a part of the Compromise 
measures of 1850, and one already declared constitutional, they 



86 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

determined to assert State authority and punish the United 
States officers if possible. Governor Chase, who proclaimed 
the extreme doctrine of State Eights, considered the sovereignty 
of Ohio attacked. He manifested great interest in the case, and 
sent the Attorney-General to argue the case for the State. The 
Governor ^Yas supported in his views by a majority of his party. 
They controlled the State, and exhibited a spirit of defiance to 
the Government which was calculated to produce alarm. 
Threats of resistance to the United States authority were openly 
made. This affair was known as the "Ohio Rebellion." 
Under circumstances, therefore, of unusual excitement, Mr, 
yallandigham, with the Hon. George E. Pugh and Stanley 
Matthews, Esq., appeared for the United States. The case was 
.tried before Judge Leavitt, the man Avho afterwards gained 
disreputable notoriely by his decision in the habeas corpus of 
Mr. Yallandigham. It was argued with great ability by the 
attorneys on both sides ; and in the course of his speech the 
Attorney-General took occasion in very plain language to make 
the issue between the .State of Ohio and the General Govern- 
ment, and advocated Avith much ability and earnestness the 
extreme doctrines of the State Rights party. Mr. Yallandig- 
liam's argument, from which we append some extracts, called 
forth the highest commendation. Maintaining the vital doc- 
trine of State Rights to the fullest extent, he yet asserted and 
upheld the absolute supremacy of the Federal Government 
within its constitutional limits. Mr. Yallandigham commenced 
by referring to the question of excess and abuse of autliority by 
the INIarshals in resisting the efforts to rescue the negroes, and 
averred that it Avas distinctly established that no more was done 
by the jMarshals than Avas necessary, or certainly at the moment 



LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLAIS'DIGHA:^!. 87 

and under the circumstances appeared necessary, to prevent the 
rescue of their prisoners, and to defend themselves against 
violence, if not loss of life. He then cited many authorities to 
sustain a proposition questioned by the Attorney-Genera], that 
in habeas corpus cases, courts exercising common law jurisdic- 
tion could go behind the return when the part}* was held under 
judicial process, and inquire by affidavit or otherwise into the 
true facts of the capture and detention of the party in custody. 
This was an important point, for the Sheriff's return upon its 
face appeared to show good and sufficient cause for the seizure, 
detention and commitment of the prisoners. He spoke at great 
length and with much earnestness of the extraordinary statute 
uullifying the United States law, under color of which the ]Mar- 
shals had been obstructed in the performance of theu' duties, 
and ultimately cast into prison. He said the writ by Mhich 
the United States officers had been arrested in the discharo-e of 
their jiroper functions was — 

". . . . not a writ of habeas corpus; not the high pre- 
rogative wit of old England, not the great writ secured by the 
Constitution, having none of its sanctity, and entitled to no 
part of its charities. It Avas not directed to the partv who de- 
tained the prisoners (the negroes) in custody. This is of the 
veiy essence of a habeas corpus; it is descriptive of it, and 
enters into a definition of the writ. But it is called a writ of 
habeas corpnis because that is a holy name and embalmed in 
the hearts of the people. It had a wicked and treasonable 
purpose to subserve, and it mast assume a sacred name and 
garb. Its author well understood the philosophy of Mirabeau, 
and after him Byron. Ho knew that — 

Words are things ; and a small drop of ink, 

Falling like dew upon a thought, produces 

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. 

But the motives and the results expected from it cannot be 
thus concealed, and in a court of law it must be stripped of 



88 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. YALLAXDIGHAM. 

its disguises, and set forth in its true character — a statute of 

sedition and discord He agreed heartily and througliou-; 

with the State Rights doctrines which the Attorney-General 
with so much ability had advocated. He (Mr. Y.) yielded to 
no man in devotion to those doctrines. Perhaps he even 
carried them farther than many others. But this was not a 
question of State Rights. We lived under two governments, 
which were only parts of one great whole. Neither govern- 
ment possessed all the attributes of sovereignty. Every citizen 
of Ohio, and especially by a peculiarity of our State Constitu- 
tion, is a citizen of the United States. As citizens of Ohio we 
do not exercise the right to declare war and make peace, to 
maintain an army and navy, &c. In the quality of citizens of 
the United States we do exercise these powers, though as such 
citizens we are wanting in others which belong to us in our 
character as citizens of the State. Sovereignty is, therefore, 
divided among the governments of the States and the Union. 
The boundaries are clefined and marked out in the Constitution 
of tlio United States. Each is supreme within its own limits. 
Neither can be interfered with by the other while each keejis 
within its own proper orbit. The Constitution of the United 
States, and all laws in pursuance of it, arc indeed the supremo 
law of the land ; and where constitutional, in case of conflict, 
bind the Judges of the State Courts. All State officers are 
sworn to support it. Thus the Constitution of the Union is a 
part of the Constitution of Ohio ; the laws in pursuance of it 
are a part of the legislation of the State, and the decisions of 
its courts within their sphere a part of the jurisprudence of 
the State ; and all are to be construed together. So long as 
each government keeps within its constitutional and legitimate 
sphere, such is the admirable beaut}' and the perfection of the 
system that there never can be a collision. AVherever, then, 
the courts or authorities of the United States have constitu- 
tional power to act, their process and action ought to be wholly 
free from all control, temporary or permanent, in any way or to 
any extent, by State action or State process. It is of no 
moment what the purpose is, or how long the intermeddling, . 
whether for an hour, a day, or six months. And, in this point 
of view, a -^^it of habeas corpus is no more sacred, and has 
no more power or authority to control, or delay, or affect in any 
way, or for any purpose, or any time, the process of the 
United States, than a capias, an execution, or an attachment. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 89 

" Mr. V. would now ajjply these principles to the argument 
of the Attorney-General this morning. Assuming the very 
point in controversy, Mr. Attorney had selected his ground 
and built up a most able and ingenious, and, he would say, un- 
answerable argument. JNIr. V. would give him the whole 
benefit of it in its utmost strength. He finds the collision 
which confessedly exists in this case between the State and the 
United States, in an attempt by this proceeding on habeas 
corpus, under the Act of Congress in 1833, to obstruct and 
render useless and j^owerless the penal laws and jurisprudence 
of the State, and to protect hereby the INIarshals of the United 
States from punishment for an infraction of those laws — the 
laws against assault and battery and the attempt to murder. 
He has argued, and most conclusively — and it was his whole 
argument — that the Government of the United States cannot 
interfere with the penal laws or process of a State, and rescue 
offenders from the penalty for offences against those laws. 
But did not ]\Ir. Attorney see, ]\Ir. V. would ask, that the very 
question to be argued was, whether the acts done by the 
Marshals were, under the circumstances, an offence against the 
laws of the State ? If they were, then this Com-t had no 
power, by habeas corpus or other^\ase, to shield them from 
punishment. But let that question be tested. Prima facie, 
every homicide is murder (Wright's Rep. 75) ; the statute 
against murder is general ; it contains no excepted cases. How, 
then, does the sheriff^ who hangs a man by the neck till dead, 
escape ? Because the same statute-book commands that he shall 
do it ; and the different statutes and sections being construed 
together, it appears to be lawful. Again, the statute against 
homicide is general. How, therefore, is the Warden of the 
Penitentiary justified who takes the life of a prisoner while 
attempting to escape ? Because the law sanctions it. Or how 
comes the State officer to stand accpiit who in executing process 
is obliged from necessity to kill the party resisting? Because 
the law allows it. It is, therefore, not every beating that is 
an assault and battery, nor every killing that is murder, nor 
every shooting with intent to kill that is an offence against the; 
penal laws of the State. Now, the Constitution of the United 
States is a part of the Constitution of Ohio; the law of 1850, 
under which the process issued to the Marshals in this case, is 
a part of the laws of Ohio, and must be taken and construed 
together with the statutes against assault and shooting with 



90 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 

intent to kill. The Constitution authorised the law, and the 
law the process, and the process justified the officer in using all 
the force necessary to execute it. If he used this force and no 
more, then what he did, though there were beating and shoot- 
ing, was no offence against the penal laws of Ohio. And all 
that the Court proposes to do here is to inquire into the truth 
of these matters." 

After briefly summing up the points made in the case, Mr. 
Vallandigham then concluded as follows : — 

" I have now, may it please your Honor, finished what I 
liave to say upon the law and the facts of the case. Its mag- 
nitude, the cleej) public interest which it everywhere excites, 
and the momentous results which, with the certainty of the 
grave, must follow from a failure by the Judiciary or the Exe- 
cutive of the Union to assert and maintain the principles and 
the rights which are involved in it, are my aj)ology for having 
so long detained the Court in this argument. I concur with 
the Attorney-General in all that he has said of the vast im- 
portance of the case now and hereafter; and the more especially 
if the menaces which he, the law-officer of the 8tate and her 
representative in this forum, has seen fit to more than insinuate 
in case of an adverse decision by this tribunal, are, in the hour 
of madness, to be carried out by her authorities as they are 
now constituted. Never before has any part of the Judiciary 
of the United States been called upon in the same way and to 
the same extent to affirm and to vindicate these rights and 
principles, so essential to the peace and harmony and the ex- 
istence of the beautiful complex system of government under 
"SN'hich for so many years we have flourished and grown great 
and happy as a people. In another forum and in other forms 
they have, indeed, been repeatedly and vehemently agitated and 
discussed. Similar cases. have also now and then arisen re- 
cently in your courts, wherein these same doctrines have been 
brought incidentally into debate ; but- never before have they 
b:£n presented in the case of direct and absolute antagonism 
between the laws, process and authority of a State and of the 
United States. The insurgents of Western Pennsylvania, in 
the last century, did not assume to act under any law of that 
commonwealth, and found no countenance or support from any 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 91 

other legally constituted authorities. No State in the Union 
gave aid or comfort to the conspiracy of Aaron Burr, nor "vvas 
the murder of Gorsuch and the rescue of his slaves pretended 
to have been done under any statute or process of the State of 
Pennsylvania. Neither did that ancient and loyal common- 
wealth, in the yet later cases from the county of Luzerne, re- 
quire or permit her Attorney-General or any of his deputies 
to appear in her behalf. The rescue of Crafts, and the at- 
tempted rescue of Sims and of Burns, all occurred before the 
ao-e of Personal Liberty Bills and statutes of treason, miss- 
called Acts of Habeas Corpus; and the Rosetta and Gaines 
cases both were decided before the capitol and the legislative 
halls of Ohio Avere prostituted to the wicked and incendiary 
purposes of domestic treason and discord. State Judges and 
courts have, indeed, before this, now and then called upon 
officers of the United States to appear at their bar, bringing 
with them the prisoners held in custody ; and, in one instance, 
the Supreme Court of a State, and in another a tribunal of this 
city certainly not the highest in rank and dignity, and a Judge 
bearino- a name not the most honored in military annals, as- 
sumed to overrule the Congress, the Executive, the inferior 
courts of the Union, the highest judicial tribunals of most of 
the States and the most respectable of the States, and the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and pronounce the Fugi- 
tive Slave Act of 1850 unconstitutional, null and void. But 
these things were done as in the green tree ; these were the 
pioneers, the advance guard of the army of sedition and civil 
discord. 

" Other States also have, indeed, enacted what, in the hour 
of madness and folly which confounds all distinctions and mis- 
applies all names, they have chosen to call Personal Liberty Bills, 
organizing resistance to the authority and process of the courts 
of the Union. Instead of the bold and manly nullification of 
South Carolina, where resistance to what she deemed and de- 
clared unconstitutional legislation put on tlie form and assumed 
the virtues and the heroism of patriotism, New England set the 
example, and we have followed it, of instituting the j^etit treason 
of a small and contemptible warfare of process of writs and 
of counter-writs — a war not of soldiers and artillery, with the 
pomp and circumstance of ordinary warfare, but of sheriffs and 
constables and bum-bailiffs, and Justices of Peace and probate 



92 LIFE OF CLEMElsT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

judgeSj of marshals and depiity-marslials ; a war of dirk- 
knivcs and single-barreled ^^istols and revolving six-shooting 
pistols, with or without powder and caps and ball ; a warfare 
in which, just the reverse of Avhat happened at the battle of 
Pavia, nothing is lost except honor. It is easy, indeed, to see, 
and melancholy to reflect, that this small and contemptible 
warfare of process must soon bring us to the sterner conflicts 
of regular and organized military array, when the armies of the 
State and of the United States shall meet in deadly and most 
bloody and most disastrous battle. We see now and hear but 
the beginning of the end. In other States, far removed from 
the mysterious line or parallel Avhich separates the slave and 
the free States, where this insane and belligerent legislation 
prevailed, no case, happily, of collision has as yet occurred. But 
to us here in Ohio, most unfortunately, it has been reserved — 
as was and is inevitable from our position geograj^hically, 
bordering nearly five hundred miles on the slaveholding States 
of Virginia and Kentucky — to exhibit the first exam])le of 
that conflict of law and authority which the miscalled Habeas 
Corpus Act of 1856 has rendered inevitable. Here, just before 
and in the midst of us, behold the first fruits of this pernicious 
and baleful legislation. It was saicf the other day that for 
more than forty years, and until the nullification ordinance and 
act of South Carolina, no power to issue writs of habeas corpus, 
in cases such as this is, was conferred upon the Judges of the 
Federal Courts, and that for some years afterward it lay dor- 
mant and unexercised. Very true, very true ; but legislation 
is always the offspring of the general or the special and tcm2:)o- 
rary circumstances and necessities which surround us. 

" For sixty-eight years, also, the people of Ohio lived hap- 
pily, freely, prosperously, and in neighborly intercourse with 
her sister States and Territories. Without slavery in her own 
limits, she yet liad no quarrel and waged no war with those 
who had. Slaves repeatedly escaped into her territory, and 
were always peaceably and quietly, and oftentimes without 
officer or warrant, recaptured and remanded. Ohio herself not 
many years ago, as I have shown, volunteered to enact a 
' fugitive-slave law,' not less stringent, and certainly far more 
odious than the now accursed Act of 1850. But times have 
changed, and Ave are changed Avith them. Men, Avise abo\-e 
what is Avritten — Aviscr than the fathers ; men of large ca- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 93 

pacity and a wisdom and sagacity more than ordinary, more 
than liuman — or, of intellects narrowed and beclouded by 
ignorance, bigotry and fanaticism, or seduced by a corrupt, 
wicked and depraved ambition, have discovered that the Con- 
stitution is all wrong, and its compacts all wrong, or rather 
that there is a higher law than the Constitution, and that dis- 
cord is piety and sedition patriotism. Tliey have resolved to 
annul and set at naught an important and most essential part 
of the Constitution and of its compacts, and to compel the 
Government of the United States to succumb to their resolves, 
or to bring the authorities of the State and of the Union into 
deadly and most destructive conflict. This was the spirit which 
dictated the statute — the Personal Liberty Bill — the so-called 
Habeas Corpus Act of 1856. There was no pretence of necessity 
for its enactment by reason of anything occurring in the ordi- 
nary administration of justice by the courts of the State. No 
ministerial officer of the Territory or State of Ohio had ever, 
in any one single instance during a period of sixty-eight years, 
refused to obey a writ of habeas corfnis. But very recently a 
^Marshal of the United States had refused obedience to the order 
of a State Court in such a proceeding ; and that most eminent 
and upright Judge who for so many years has adorned the 
Supreme Bench of the Union — and of whom I may say, as Mr. 
Webster said of John Jay, when the spotless ermine of the 
judicial robe fell upon him it touched nothing not as spotless as 
itself — had justified him in the refusal and discharged him 
from confinement by order of the State Judge. And, more- 
over, a second time in a like case, the same marshal had declined 
submission to an order by another Court of this city — a Court 
of Probate, appointed to administer upon the goods and chattels 
of dead men — 'requiring him to release his prisoners, because 
the Fugitive Slave Act, under which he held them in custody, 
was unconstitutional and void ; and again had been sustained 
in another forum and by another Judge, of whom I may not 
now speak in fitting terms of commendation and respect. 

"Thus the firmness and integrity of the judiciary of the 
United States had so far triumphed in the conflict, and saved 
the laws, process and authority of the Union from violation 
and disgrace. The bulwark of the Constitution remained im- 
pregnable. Possession was found full nine points in the law. 
Certainly, therefore, if possession could be had, in the first in- 



94 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

stance, of the bodies of the fugitives or others in custody, the 
great end of obstructing and defeating the constitutional pro- 
vision for the reclamation of escaping slaves, and tlie Act in 
pursuance of it, would be attained. And, accordingly, as I have 
already established, for the first time within the history of this 
State, or indeed of any other kState, the Avrit of personal re- 
plevin in the case of prisoners held under judicial process, was 
introduced into our legislation, and one officer commanded to 
take by force from another officer the prisoners held in liis 
custody. Collision among State officers was not expected, and 
indeed could not well arise. But in the case of independent 
sovereignties exercising authority and executing independent 
process within the same territory, it was expected and intended 

— I stand justified by the facts in affirming it — that a direct 
and absolute conflict would and should occur. To this State 
of Ohio, therefore, I am sorry to say — in this District of the 
State — and to the county officers of Clark, Green, and Cham- 
paign, it has in an evil hour been allotted to exhibit the first 
example of the collision which Avas inevitable between the two 
governments to Avhicli, in equal right though unequal degree, 
the sovereignty of the people of this State has been committed. 
The case has arisen, the direct issue has been presented, and it 
must be met. It is a question of power between these two 
depositaries of popular sovereignty. I repeat it, a question of 
power, not of right. When South Carolina undertook to nul- 
lify a statute of Congress, and to set herself in array against 
the Government of the Union, she made it a question of con- 
stitutional right. Recognising her duty to obey the Constitu- 
tion and all laws in pursuance of it, no matter how odious or 
unjust, she denied the power of Congress to enact the statute. 
But the learned doctors and jirofcssors of modern nullification 

— the Avhole collegia anibuhaiarum ct phannaeojwlce — forced 
to admit the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Act, or at 
least the right of the ])eople and States of the South, under the 
Constitution, to demand of us the reclamation of their fugitives, 
appeal to a higher law than the Constitution, and denounce 
tlie rendition of fugitives from slavery, under any law or 
under any constitution, as against this higher law of conscience, 
and therefore null and void. Why have they who control just 
now the legislation of the State, sought to bring about this 
conflict between the courts and ministerial officers of the two 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 95 

goveniincnts, and by State statutes and State process, through 
the machinery of writs of habeas corpus '^nd replevin, by 
sheriffs, and constables, and probate judges, and justices of the 
peace, to harass, impede and obstruct or prevent the execution 
of this law? What argument have we heard here in this 
court? Not that the Act is unconstitutional. If it were, the 
process held by these deputies was void process, and they were 
engaged in the commission of an illegal act. That would have 
been a conclusive answer to this whole proceeding. But it has 
not been alleged. That question is settled — absolutely put at 
rest. Mr. Webster said, six years ago, that no ' respectable 
lawyer ' would maintain the unconstitutionality of the Fug- 
itive Slave Act of 1850. I am confident your Plonor would 
not have heard an argument upon the question. No ; we have 
bsen told that the law is harsh, that it is cruel and unjust, 
that it is odious and distasteful to the people. This is the 
apology for personal liberty bills and acts of habeas corpus, so- 
called, and all the other hindrances and obstructions which have 
been interposed to its execution. For this cause, and this cause 
only, it has been declared — not here, certainly, but elsewhere — 
that it cannot and shall not be put in force, at least within the 
' sovereign States ' of Clark, Green, and Champaign ; that 
wheresoever else it may be obeyed, there it is and shall remain 
a dead letter forever. Upon pretexts and by appeals and 
seditious declarations such as these are, the jjcople, or a part 
of the people — I trust a very small ])art, but enough, neverthe- 
less, to do, or to threaten, great mischief — have been stirred up 
to the madness and folly of setting themselves in array against 
the Government of the United States, and under the color and 
the forms of State statutes and State process, of resisting the 
execution of its laws and the process of its courts, and thus of 
precipitating upon us the crisis which wicked and designing 
men have so long labored to bring about. 

"I have no instruction, may it please your Honor, here, 
before this tribunal, to discuss the question whether the Act of 
1850 be justly obnoxious to these reproaches or not. With that 
question this Court has no concern. Your Honor, I am sure, is 
no au:horised expounder of the ' higher law,' as it is taught in 
this day, and still less sit here to enforce it. But I may be 
permitted to suggest that in its present form, substantially, it 
has been the law of the land for more than sixty years ; that by 



96 LIFE OF CLEME^TT L, YALLAKDIGHAM. 

nearly one-half of the States of this Union it is regarded as both 
reasonable and just; by a large portion of the people of all the 
States as alike necessary and proper, and by all the States, 
except one, and by all 'respectable lawyers' (I quote the words 
of Mr. Webster: non mcus hie senno est; he is responsible for 
it, not I ) as in strict conformity with the Constitution of the 
Union. If it be indeed harsh, cruel and unjust, it is not be- 
cause it provides means improper or more than adequate to attain 
its end -^ they have indeed proved scarce sufficient as they are 
— but because it remands the 'panting fugitive' to slavery. 
' The head and fi'ont of its offending hath this extent : no more.' 
If so, then it is the Constitution which is harsh, cruel and unjust. 
It is the Constitution which is odious and distateful to that por- 
tion of the people of this State who entertain these sentiments, 
and who make them the reason or the pretext for their resistance 
to the process and authority of the United States. It is the 
Constitution which must be abrogated or nullified, and they 
who execute or who would maintain and defend it, made odious 
and set at defiance. 

" But these are doctrines and notions which find no countenance 
or support within these walls. Here at least they may not, 
and will not, be hearkened to with patience. I liave a right, 
then, to repeat again that this is solely a cpiestion of power 
between the two governments. And it is fortunate perhaps 
for us that this issue is thus clearly and directly presented here, 
and in this case. It is here, and here in all its breadth and 
fulness and extent — a direct and inevitable conflict of law and 
process between the State and the United States. It is here, the 
first, the natural, the necessary fruits of the insane and aggressive 
legislation which for some years has prevailed in several of the 
States of this Union — itself both the effect and the cause, the off- 
spring and the parent of the violent and highly excited public 
sentiment which has already resulted, first, in this resistance to 
the process of your courts, and finally in the melancholy and mur- 
derous tragedy of the other day. The exigence of the writ to 
the marshals commanded them to take and bring the bodies 
of their prisoners to Cincinnati, before a Commissioner of the 
United States. The exigence of the writ to the sheriff com- 
manded him to take these same prisoners from the custody of 
the marshals, and carry them to Urbana before a State Judge. 
Both could not be obeved. Eesistance and collision were 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 97 

inevitable, and they followed, aggravated and embittered ex- 
ceedingly by the violent and fanatical hostile sentiments of those 
who pursued and denounced the marshals as ruffians, while they 
encouraged and applauded the prisoners as the martyrs of 
liberty. 

*'The case is here, and to the marshals concerned it is of the 
last and most vital importance. Their liberties are at stake. 
If the Government of the United States is powerless or is un- 
willing to protect them in the discharge of the duties v/hich it 
has imposed upon them, it is easy to see wdiat the result of a 
trial must be in the midst of the deep excitement which pre- 
vails in the counties Avhere these acts were done, stimulated 
as that excitement has been day by day through the public 
press, in public assemblies, and upon the public highways, by 
the most wilful and reckless misrepresentation of facts, and 
the most violent denunciation of these deputies as pirates and 
outlaws. In ordinary times and upon other subjects the 
people of the counties concerned arc no doubt as honest, as in- 
telligent, as upright as the people of any other counties. But 
in this case and upon the question involved in it, they have 
been wrought up to madness and folly. In resisting the exe- 
cution of the Fugitive Slave Act, they think they do God's 
service. With them, or rather with the honest but misguided 
portion of them, it is a sort of superstition — a species of re- 
ligious fanaticism — a motive and an element in all popular 
commotions, as all history attests, the most powerful and con- 
trolling. There are, doubtless, hundreds among them, as 
among others elsewhere, who in the crusade against this law 
of the United States, are ready to adopt and repeat the battle- 
cry of the Saracens, ' Paradise is before us and hcll-iire at our 
l)acks ! ' In such a state of public sentiment I have no con- 
fidence in any class of men. It is this self-same spirit which 
in every age has lighted up the fires of jDcrsecution, and put 
thousands to death with every aggravation of torture and 
cruelty. It is this spirit — the true spirit of the ' higher law ' — 
which sets at defiance every claim of justice, every call of hu- 
manity, every law of God, of nature and of man. In the ninth 
century, in the earlier ages of the INIohammedan faith, other 
religions being also tolerated, the Fire-worshippers of Persia 
possessed a temple in the city of Herat, which in the midst of 
a religious tumult was attacked and razed to the ground, and 

• 7 



98 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLAIn^DIGHAM. 

a mosque erected upon the site where it had stood. The Magi 
appealed for justice and restitution to the Caliph ; but four 
thousand Mohammedan citizens of Herat, of a grave character 
and mature age, deliberately and unanimously swore that the 
idolatrous temple never had existed. Human nature is the 
same in every age. The people of the times and the country 
we live in are no better by nature than the people of any other 
country or any other period of the world's history. The people 
of the counties of Clark, Green, and Champaign, though no 
worse, are no better either than the people of other counties 
and States of this Union ; and pardon me, gentlemen, they 
have already prejudged this case and pronounced upon the 
guilt of these deputies. 

^' But great, may it please your Honor, as their stake in this 
question may be personally, it is not they who are chieily con- 
cerned. The whole people of the District, of the State, of the 
United States, of other nations, and of the ages which shall suc- 
ceed the age w^e live in, are alike and most profoundly in- 
terested -in the result. It is a question of the peace and the per- 
petuity of our Government, and Avith it of free government all 
over fhe globe, and in all coming time. If any one State of 
this Union may disregard or annul any one law in pursuance 
of it, because in its judgment it is harsh, cruel and unjust, any 
'Other State may, in like manner and upon like ]:)retexts, dis- 
obey and set at naught any other part of this same Constitution, 
•or any other law under it. If the people or part of the 
people of Ohio may prohibit or practically prevent the execu- 
tion of the Fugitive Slave Law within her limits, the people, or 
a part of them, of South Carolina, may also annul and disobey 
the Acts to abolish the slave trade ; and by State statutes and 
State process, by habeas corpus and replevin, through her min- 
isterial otficcrs and her courts, vex, harass, and finally beat 
down and render powerless the judiciary of the Union. How 
long, then, can the governments of either the States or the 
United States endure; and wdiat, above all, are they worth 
while they do endure? The end of these things js death. 

" But I am confident that this Court is prepared, that the 
whole Government of the United States is prepared, to meet 
this issue just as it is presented. And I tell Mr. Attorney- 
General, and through him the Executive of the State, whose 
vain defiance he has this day borne here to this presence, that 



LIFE OF cleme:xt l. vallandigham. 99 

it is not to be awed by threats, nor to be put down by denun- 
ciation, nor to be turned aside from its firm purpose to enforce 
the hiws and the process of its courts, in any event and at all 
hazards, and without respect to persons or to States, whether 
those States be Rhode Island or Ohio. And w^hensoever this 
Court, or any other Court of the Union, shall have judicially 
ascertained and declared the rights and powers of the Govern- 
ment to execute its laws and its process in any pending case, 
I know that the Executive of the Union stands prepared, 
fliithfully, fearlessly and sternly, if need be, and by the whole 
jiower of the Government, to preserve, protect and defend the 
Constitution from all the assaults of its enemies." 



We have presented a considerable portion of this speech 
because it affords a clear view of the interesting questions in- 
volved in the case, and gives some idea of the sectional feeling 
and disregard for the laws of the United States which existed 
amons: the Abolitionists at that time in the State of Ohio. 
There seemed serious danger of an actual collision with the 
General Government; and it is said that Governor Chase con- 
sulted Avith officers of the State Militia upon the subject, and 
actually made arrangements for armed hostility. The matter 
was also discussed in President Buchanan's cabinet, and it was 
determined by the President that the authority and dignity 
of the Government should be maintained at all hazards. The 
storm however blew over, the Deputy Marshals were discharged 
by order of the Court, and were not again molested ; but the 
Abolitionists succeeded in their principal object, for the negroes 
were never re-captured. 

On the first of December, 1857, Mr. Vallandigham, relin- 
quishing for a time his legal practice, now large and lucrative, 
repaired to AYashington to prosecute the contest for his seat in 
Congress. There he remained nearly six months, his patience 



100 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and temj)cr severely tried by the long delay. This delay was 
occasioned by the division which had arisen in the Democratic 
party upon the Lecompton question. For months this question 
agitated Congress and the countr}', and on account of the com- 
plications arising from its discussion, the contested election 
case was delayed and the result for a long time doubtful. 
When the case came up before the Committee of Elections, 
Mr. Vallandigham was represented by Col. Geo. W. McCook. 
He also filed a very elaborately prepared brief, and made a 
sjjcech before Congress in su2)port of his claims which was 
regarded as very able. The majority report of the Committee 
drawn up by the Hon. L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississi^^pi, was in 
favor of the contestant, and made the following summary of 
the result : — 

The whole number of votes cast for Mr. Vallandigham, as appears 

by the original returns, 9,319 

To this add three votes improperly rejected, 3 

9,323 
Deduct for illegal votes cast for Mr. Vallandigham 15 

Correct vote 9,307 

The whole number of votes cast for Mr. Campbell, as appears by 

the original returns, 9,338 

Add one ballot improperly rejected 1 

9,339 
Deduct for illegal votes 55 

9,384 
Leaving a majority for the contestant of 33. 

On the 25th of May, 1858, this report was adopted by a 
vote of 107 to 100, and Mr. Vallandigham was admitted to 
a seat in Congress as the Representative of the 3d District 
of Ohio, and was immediately sworn in. Soon after. Congress 
adjourned, and he returned to his home. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 101 

A correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer presents the 
following account of the closing up of this contested election 
case : — 

" I have not noticed in any "Western paper an account of 
the closing up of the contested election case of Vallandigham 
vs. Campbell. This case has attracted attention from all parts 
of the country, and a detail of its finale may be interesting to 
your readers. 

" On Thursday, the 20th inst., Mr. Harris, Chairman of 
the Committee on Elections, reported from the Committee that 
the Minnesota members were entitled to be sworn in, reserving 
the right to contest in the future. Before this, when the 
credentials w-ere first presented, on motion of Mr. Sherman, of 
Ohio, and for the purpose of preventing their being sworn in 
before the Vallandigham and Campbell case should come up, 
the credentials were referred to the Committee on Elections. 

" They were tied up there a week for the same purpose, and 
when reported back they desired more time, under the pretence 
of printing the reports ; and when the previous question was sus- 
tained on the passage of the resolutions admitting them, the 
Republicans then began to ' filibuster,' by a series of dilatory and 
embarrassing motions, trying to force a postponement of the ad- 
mission, so as to try to slip the Ohio case in ahead ; and this 
system of tactics was kept up from Thursday until Saturday at 
a great expense, and to the detriment of the jiublic business at 
the close of the session. But they Avere defeated, and the 
Minnesota members came in. • 

"How^ever, on the next Tuesday, when the Ohio case came 
up for the vote, and it became evident that Mv. Vallandigham 
would get the seat, they commenced again, under the lead of 
]Mr. Slierman, to ' filibuster,' but finding the temper of the 
House against it, they subsided, and ]\Ir. V. was at once de- 
clared to have been duly elected, and was sworn in. 

" Mr. Vallandigliam had many Avarm friends and supporters 
in the Senate and House throughout the session ; among them 
Stevenson, Phillips, and Boyce, of the Committee on Elections, 
and Stephens, Houston, Faulkner, John Cochran, Hughes, J. 
Ghincy Jones, Bocook, and others. But he is especially in- 
debted, I think, to Mr. Lamar, of Mississippi, whose able re- 
port was very ctfcctive in sustaining the case, and whose 



102 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

earnest, vigorous, ready and conclusive replies, in a running 
and skirmishing debate of several hours, demonstrated the fact 
that he is not only a scholar and a thinker, but a keen, ready 
and acute debater, and destined to become a leader in the House. 
His speech Avas a success in that sort of debate which is more 
valuable in a deliberative assembly than a thousand set speeches 
and essays. 

" The speech of Mr. Stevenson of Kentucky was also a very 
able argument, as was to be expected of one whose reputation as 
a sound lawyer stands deservedly high here and at home. 

" Many encomiums were made upon the argument of Mr. 
Vallandigham. Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, pronounced it the 
best ' first effort ' he ever heard in the House, and Mr. 
Groesbeck complimented the argument as evincing fine legal 
ability and merit. Mr. V. spoke in a clear, easy and pleasant 
style, entirely free from affectation, and received close attention 
from the House and a large crowtl of spectators in the galleries. 

" Throughout the whole contest his fair and courteous con- 
duct and personal worth have created for him many warm 
friends, Avho, in common with the entire Democratic side of the 
House, Avere rejoiced at his success." 

Shortly after his return home he was again annomiced as a 
candidate for Congress, without the formality of a convention, 
but designated unanimously by the Central Committees of the 
tliree counties, who acted in accordance with the well-known 
wishes of the Democracy of the District ; and in October Avas 
re-elected by a majority of 188 over Mr. Campbell, Avho Avas 
again his competitor. This election to the 36th Congress, and 
his success a fcAV months before in the contest for a seat in the 
35th, Avere highly gratifying to Mr. Vallandigham. For 
years he had been unsuccessful in all his political aspirations. 
The principal cause of this Avas his stern opposition to slavery 
agitation ; but there Avere other causes. When only tAventy years 
of age, and about to enter upon his active political career, he 
remarked to his eldest brother that he was determined to be an 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 103 

lionest jDolitician. His brother, tliougli highly approving his 
resolution, suggested to him that he had a very hard road be- 
fore him — that in all probability he would fail; to which he 
replied in his earnest and emphatic manner : — " If I cannot suc- 
ceed, pursuing an honest and upright course, / am wiUlng to 
fa'il.''^ That course he did pursue through life ; and although 
he did not entirely fail, though his honorable ambition was to 
a certain extent gratified, he would have been much more suc- 
cessful by pursuing a different course. Had he been willing 
to consult policy, to court popular applause, to yield some- 
times that w^hich he believed to be right to that which appeared 
to be expedient, riches and honors and offices would have 
been at his command. But his unbending determination to 
follow the course he had originally marked out, and his bitter 
hostility to Abolitionism,, because he saw from the beginning 
that it would ultimately result in civil war, and jierhaps a dis- 
solution of the Union, were for years an insurmountable bar- 
rier to his political advancement. To this he refers in his 
speech of January 14, 1863: — "Sir, I am one ofihat number 
who have opposed Abolitionism, or the political development 
of the Anti-Slavery sentiment of the North and West, from the 
beginning. In school, at college, at the bar, in public as- 
semblies, in the Legislature, in Congress, boy and man, as a 
private citizen and in public life, in time of peace and in time 
of war, at all times and at every sacrifice I have fought against 
it. It cost me ten years' exclusion from office and honor, at that 
period of life when honors are sweetest. No matter ; I learned 
early to do right and to wait." 

During the time he was detained at Washington, awaiting 
the result of hLs contest for the seat in Congress, he passed but 



104 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

few idle moments. He constantly attended the sittings of the 
House, and carefully studied the laws and observed the usages 
of parliamentary bodies ; and this he continued to do during 
the session of 1858-9, taking but little jxart in the debates. 
The natural result of this was that he became better ac- 
quainted, more thoroughly conversant with the rules govern- 
ing the jjroceedings of deliberative bodies than almost any public 
man of his day. This fact was well known and recognised in 
the Thirty-sixth and the Thirty-seventh Congress, so that during 
the session of 1862, a member, neither personally nor politically 
friendly to him, said : — " I am always uneasy when Vallandig- 
liam is out of his seat, lest some mischief should be slipped in 
contrary to rule." His knowledge of the rules of the House 
and his skill in their application, and clear understanding of 
parliamentary law, were of great value to himself and his party 
during the Thirty-seventh Congress, when the Democracy was 
so powerless for lack of numbers. Naturally quick-tempered 
and impatient, he yet exercised such a restraint over himself 
that these qualities were seldom exhibited in his congressional 
contests ; and his coolness and perfect self-possession amid the 
most exciting scenes and most stormy debates, surprised his 
friends, and commanded the respect and even the admiration of 
his political foes. 

During the session of 1858-9, as we have already remarked, 
]Mr. Vallandigham did not take a very active jiart in debate ; 
on two or three occasions, however, he briefly addressed the 
House, 

On the 14th of December, 1858, he made a few remarks in 
favor of the resolution to impeach Judge Watrous, of Texas, 
who was accused of corruption in office for private gain. He 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 105 

drew the distinction between cases of impeachment in England 
and the United States. He claimed that all analogies drawn 
from the rules and practice governing impeachments in Eng- 
land, tended only to mislead and confuse in the consideration 
of this case. In England the punishment is the same as upon 
conviction in any other court, extending even to the death 
penalty. Not so under our Constitution; none but civil officers 
arc subject to impeachment here, and the judgment — not the 
jninishmenf ; for that word is not used — extends no further 
than to removal from office. The object of impeachment in 
Enti-land is the punishment or suppression of crime ; in this 
country, first, restraint upon public officers, and secondly, the 
removal of such as shall in any manner misdemean. I^o great 
crime need be alleged to justify it here ; it is sufficient to war- 
rant it that a misdemeanor is charged. 

"What then," said he, "is judicial misbehavior or misde- 
meanor ? That, Sir, depends wholly upon the standard which 
vou shall fix for judicial character and conduct. INIine, I con- 
fess, is the highest. I would have both as pure as the ' lann'd 
snow that's bolted by the northern blasts twice o'er,' and as 
spotless as the ermine which was once the emblem of judicial 
purity. The integrity of the Judge ought to be above suspi- 
cion "in his great office. I wonkl have him the sandlssbmis 
judex of the Romans ; for to the litigant in his court he stands 
in the place of God. Save impeachment, he is subject to no 
responsibility except an enlightened conscience and a religious 
sense of duty. Theoretically, indeed, the judiciary is in every 
country, to a great extent, of necessity an arbitrary power. 
Even when hedged in by law, there yet remains the vast field 
of 'judicial discretion ; and beyond all lies the boundless ocean 
of the 'interpretation of laws' — the great business of the 
Judo-e. Sir, there are ten thousand ways in which a corrupt, a 
Mcak, or a prejudiced Judge, a Judge Iiostile or friendly to the 
litigant, or what is more common the la-svyer, may pervert 
justice, xiollute its ^uve fountains, and do foul WTong in the 



106 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

cause, and yet none but he who has suffered know it. These 
are the false ^Yeights which it is so easy, unperceived, to throw 
into the scales of justice. Add now to all this that the judi- 
cial power, like the invisible and impalpable air Avhich sur- 
rounds, jicnetrates everywhere and affects every relation of 
life ; that it extends even to life itself, to liberty, to property 
in all its infinite complications ; to marriage, divorce, parent- 
age, master and servant, and finally pursues us even after 
death in the distribution of estates ; nqy, that the very monu- 
ments of the dead, the dull cold marble in which they sleep, 
are the subjects of its destroying or protecting hand. There 
is no dci^artmcnt of the Government therefore which is so 
liable to abuse as the judiciary ; but to the honor of America 
and human nature be it said, there is none where so little 
abuse prevails. In seventy years this is the first example of 
the impeachment of a Judge demanded because of alleged cor- 
ruption in oihce for private gain. Arbitrary and dissolute 
Judges have indeed been impeached, though but in two or 
three instances during that long period; yet none for corrup- 
tion. But if infrequent, it is nevertheless the most atrocious, 
and in its consequences to the judiciary and to the public the 
most dangerous crime which a Judge can commit ; for ' there 
is no happiness, there is no liberty, there is no enjoyment in 
life, unless a man can say when he rises in the morning, I shall 
be subject to the decision of no unjust Judge to-day.' " 

After remarking that the members of the House were not 
the judges, the grand jurors, nor exercising judicial power, nor 
even acting in their representative capacity, but that their pro- 
vince was simjily to accuse and to carry on the prosecution 
against the party accused, he urged that the House should not 
be slow to listen to comj)laints of those who invoke its process 
to summon the accused into Court. 

" If, indeed, the case be palpably frivolous, or flic prosecu- 
tion plainly malicious, it is our duty promptly, if not indig- 
nantly, to refuse. Can any one, will any one say that this is 
such a case? But it has been said that there is too much doubt 
and perplexity in this case, and that therefore there ought to be 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. ' 107 

no impeachment . Not so. We have no power to tiy and acquit; 
and these very perplexities and doubts, if indeed any such 
there are, especially after the accused has been heard fully in 
his defence, are of themselves enough to justify this House in 
sending the case to the Senate for adjudication." 

He concluded by saying : — 

" For one, Mr. Speaker, wheresoever else in this Govern- 
ment corruption may come, or how far soever elsewhere it may 
be carried, I demand that there shall be preserved one cita- 
del at least within which public virtue may retire and stand 
intrenched." 

On the 24th of February, 1859, he addressed the House of 
Eepresentatives upon the Tariff, attacking the Tariff of 1857. 
He said he was no friend to the Act of 1857; that it w^as pecu- 
liarly a manufacturer's tariff, and a highly protective tariff too, 
the most protective tariff ever enacted. It protected in two 
modes. It admitted the raw material free, and it lays also a duty 
upon the manufactured article. He then referred to the man- 
ner in which the interests of his constituents and the farmers, 
especially the wool-growers of Ohio, had been disregarded in 
the Act of 1857. 

" Ohio," he said, " is peculiarly an agricultural State. With 
two millions and a half of people, she has twenty-five millions 
of acres : twenty millions occupied by or attached to farms ; 
eleven millions actually cultivated; four hundred thousand 
land-owners ; a greater number of farms and more tillable sur- 
face, proportionally, than any State in the Union. The cost 
value of her land is $600,000,000 ; her agricultural products 
worth $132,000,000, equal to the whole cotton crop of the 
South ; and her entire taxable property is $900,000,000. She 
is the first wheat, the first wool, and the first corn-growing 
State; the first wine-producing also; and as my Cincinnati 
colleagues will attest, the foremost in the production of swine. 
Her animal products alone equal $40,000,000, and the value 



108 LIFE OF CLEMEIs^T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

of her butter, poultry, and eggs ^vould of itself support lialf 
the State Governments of New England. And yet Ohio is a 
part, and a small part only, of the great Mississippi valley, 
that most wonderful of all portions of the globe, the very Gar- 
den of Eden in the new creation — in the political apocalypse 
of the Bishop of Cloyne, ' Time's noblest empire ! ' the seat, 
too, doubtless, of empires older than Thebes, prouder than 
Tyre, nobler than Nineveh, but whose memorials have perished 
even bevond ruins or tradition ; yet destined once again to be- 
come the seat of an empire to which you, ye proud men and 
v.'ise men of the East, will yet come bearing your frankincense 
■and your tribute." 

He then, by reference to statistics, exhibited the injustice 
done to the Avool-growing and other interests of the West by 
the Tariff, and announced that he was not demanding " pro- 
tection " for his people, but simply just and equal taxation. 
He was very often interrupted during his speech by various 
members who were in favor of the Act of 1857, whose questions 
he answered promptly and satisfactorily. He concluded by 
giving notice that should any tariff bill be reported during 
the session, he should move as a substitute that the tariff of 
1846 be revived for two years, so that meantime a revision of 
the Act of 1857 might be had, adhering to tne principle of 
ad valorem, and also to all the other rules of equal and just 
taxation. 

At the close of the session INIr. Yallandigham returned 
home and spent the summer and fill in recreation, in attention 
to professional business, and to matters pertaining to his office 
as a member of Congress. In prosecution of the latter, about 
the middle of October he visited AYashiugton. 

On Sunday night, the 16th of October, 1859, at Harper's 
Ferry, Virginia, the great civil war between the North and the 
South was commenced. On that night John Brown, attended 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 109 

by eighteen of his comrades, crossed the Potomac River from 
the INIaryland shore, and captured the United States Arsenal, 
regardless of the Stars and Stripes whose folds were supposed 
to protect it. Armed parties were then sent out to capture 
prominent slaveholders in the immediate neighborhood, and to 
announce the glorious tidings of freedom to the slaves. The 
first indication of their presence to the citizens of the town was 
on the arrival of the mail train going East, on. the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad, about half-past one in the morning. When 
the train arrived it was stopped by a guard of two men, well 
armed, mIio had orders from John Brown to let no one pass 
over the bridge. The first man they killed Avas a free negro 
named Haywai-d, an employee : they shot him just after the 
arrival of the train, and he lingered in great agony until after 
daylight, when he died. The train of cars, after being delayed 
some hours, was permitted to go on its way, but neither the 
railroad employees nor the passengers gathered any very clear 
idea of the cause of their detention. When daylight came, 
the inhabitants of the village, as fast as they appeared on the 
street, were captured and carried to the engine-house, a building 
very near to the Arsenal. Many slaves had by this time been 
brought in, and pikes were placed in their hands by the insur- 
gents, and they were directed to strike for freedom ; but the 
astounded and frightened Africans gazed with dilated eyes and 
terror-stricken countenances at the arms provided and at the 
stern-looking body of men who surrounded them, and showed 
no disposition to take part in the war for " liberty." The 
morning was far advanced before the presence of the insurgents 
was generally known in the village. The news then flew like 
wild-fire, and from all directions the people flocked with arms 



110 .LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

in their hands to attack the invaders. Before night, all of 
Brown's party who were not in the engine-house with him, 
except those on the Maryland side, were either killed or 
captured, and he was surrounded. Three citizens of Virginia 
were killed and several wounded by Brown's men during the 
course of the day. Meanwhile intelligence of the affair had 
reached Washington, and the marines on duty at the Navy- Yard 
were ordered to the scene of action. They were under command 
of Col. Robert E. Lee, afterwards the great commander of the 
Southern army. The marines arrived at Harper's Ferry on 
Monday night. Early on Tuesday morning Colonel Lee sent 
Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart (subsequently the dashing com- 
mander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia) 
demanding a surrender. Brown refused to surrender, unless 
upon his own terms. Immediately the order to storm the 
cno-ine-house Avas given, and executed with promptitude. One 
marine Avas killed and one wounded by the insurgents in the 
assault. The contest was, however, quickly ended. The 
leader, John Brown, Avas cut down by the sword of Lieutenant 
Green, and the insurgents who resisted were bayoneted. In 
less than thirty-six hours the insurrection was put down ; but 
during that short time, John Brown's party killed five men 
and Avounded nine, and lost themselves ten men killed. The 
excitement and apprehension in A^irginia were, however, very 
great," which afforded a portion of the Republican press founda- 
tion for sneering comment. Many remarks were made upon 
what Avas termed the cowardice of old Virginia, frightened 
out of all propriety by eighteen men. Not quite three years 
after Avards, hoAvever, the people of old Virginia considered them- 
selves avenged Avhen nearly 12,000 Northern troops, at the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. Ill 

same place, well fortified, splendidly armed, with seventy-three 
pieces of artillery, surrendered to the Virginian, Stonewall 
Jackson, who had but few more men and much less artillery — 
surrendered too when 100,000 men were hastening to their 
rescue. 

Mr. Yallandigham, who was in Washington the night that 
John Brown made the attack upon Harper's Ferry, started thence 
to return home on Monday morning. When he got to Baltimore 
he heard of the insurrection, as it was termed, and was delayed 
in that city by the unsettled condition of affairs until Wednes- 
clay morning the 19 th of October. He arrived at the scene of 
the late conflict about noon, and determined to remain there 
until the evening train. Filled Avitli many sad forebodings as 
to the future, he wandered around the town, making inquiries 
of citizens and soldiers about the late events. At last he 
returned towards the railroad bridge, and stood surveyino-, in 
deep reflection, the magnificent scenery around him. As he 
stood looking southward, his mind busy with anxious thoughts, 
if the future had been opened to his gaze, what a wonderful 
panorama of scenes to be enacted in and around this already 
historical place would have been presented to his vision! 
Beyond the Bolivar heights in front of him lay the beautiful' 
Shenandoah valley. In that beautiful valley ho might have 
beheld the chivalrous Ashby at the head of his brave troopers, 
careering upon his white horse, or meeting with a calm smile 
the fatal shot which stretched him on the plain ; then too the 
thousands of blue coats faring southward under General Banks 
or meeting In dread battle-array under Shields the fierce attack 
of Stonewall Jackson at Kernstown ; the glittering bayonets of 
Fremont's hosts as they impatiently pushed forward to meet 



112 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

their fate at Cross Keys ; the ragged legions of " Stonewall " as 
they gathered around Harjier's Ferry from tlie South, already 
having closed the outlets east, west, and north ; the white plume 
of Stuart, and the long line of his gay cavaliers returning after 
the raid to Chambersburg ; the valiant Averill with his Northern 
and Western saber crs, hard pressed but not dismayed, leader of 
many a raid down the valley ; the gray ranks of the South 
surging over the intrenchments at Winchester, and the hurried 
flight of Milroy's forces ; the clanking of sabres and the wild 
rush of horses when the gallant Mulligan fell foremost in the 
fray, so dearly loved by his friends, so highly respected by his 
foes; the booming of artillery and the fierce yell of Sheridan's 
troopers as they charged at Opequon and scut Early whirling 
down the valley, and " old Jubal," never despairing, in the 
mists of early morning bursting upon his unsuspecting foe, for 
a time carrying everything before his impetuous attack ; the 
famous day that Sheridan's ride is said to have saved his army 
from destruction ; the reckless riders of Mosby, and the restless 
rovers of McNeill, moving stealthily through the shades of the 
forest; the beautiful valley wet with blood, smoking with confla- 
gration, and swept by fire, sword, and famine as by the besom of 
destruction, yet consecrated by glorious memories, the halo of 
romance gathering with the years around its mountain walls, 
every glen its history, each cross-road its story, and every house- 
hold with its precious relic of "the times which tried men's souls." 
Beliind him lay South ^Mountain, the autumn glories of its num- 
berless forest-trees painted in gorgeous dyes by Nature's skil- 
ful hand, awaiting the day when upon its slopes, amidst the 
roaring of cannon and rattle of musketry, the men who wore 
the blue and those who wore the gray should be laid low, "in 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 113 

one red burial blent." And there too, but a short distance, was 
the pleasant valley of the Antietam, whose bright waters were 
yet to be crimsoned with brothers' blood, and arQund whose 
hills, now wreathed in the soft haze of Indian summer, the 
darkening smoke, the sulphury pall of battle soon should gather ; 
and eastward a little way, the Monocacy tripping lightly over 
its pebbly bed to join the Potomac, where now indeed it was 
"all quiet" — tlie Monocacy through whose mimic waves 
the Louisiana brigade of Early's army pressed on to victory in 
the bright sunlight of July 1864. As he stood there in deep 
reflection, dreading the coming years but little dreaming of the 
magnitude of the mighty struggle approaching, and hoping 
his apprehensions might prove false, Colonel Eobert E. Lee 
came up, and ho was invited to go and see old John Brown, to 
whom, in later days, John Wilkes Booth was the Southern 
complement. 

So, in company with Senator Mason, Hon. C J. Faulkner, 
and General Jeb Stuart (Lieutenant only then), he entered 
the room where " Ossawatomie " Brown and his devoted 
follower Stevens lay. Brown was lying on the floor, his face 
still disfigured with blood from the sabre-Avound in his head, 
and begrimmcd with powder and dirt, sufiering pain, but full 
of life and spirit. He Avas anxious to talk, not the least 
frightened, and his courage and composure extorted respect 
from all, and filled Mr. V.'s mind with indignation as he 
pictured to himself the cowardly miscreants in high places who 
had urged on a brave, but misguided and almost insane, man 
to deeds of cruelty and bloodshed, whilst they in perfect 
security sat in cushioned chairs a thousand miles away, conning 
speeches upon the Slavery question, raising subscrij)tions to 



114 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 

buy rifles and ammunition to carry on war in the South, and 
neglecting or oppressing the poor and wretched around them. 
Stevens, a large, rather good-looking, light-complexioncd, light- 
haired, heavy-bearded man, with bright restless gray eyes, his 
gaze Avandering from one to another of tliose around him, lay 
near his chief. He was suffering from three gunshot wounds, 
and occasionally groaned from pain. A considerable number 
of persons were in the room gazing with curiosity upon the 
prostrate forms, but quiet and orderly in demeanor. Brown 
seemed anxious to converse, and talked freely to any one who 
addressed him. Mr. Vallandigham conversed a few minutes 
with him, and from papers published about the time, and from 
information derived from Mr. V. himself, the writer thinks the 
subjoined is substantially the conversation which occurred. 
"While Mr. V. was talking to him, several others asked him 
questions and received answers, some of which are not mentioned 
in this report of the interview. 

Brown was talking about the conflict when Senator Mason 
•and INIr. Vallandigham approached him. Senator Mason said 
to him : " How do you justify your acts ? " 

Brown. — " I think, my friend, you are gnilty of a great 
wrono" ao-ainst God and humanity. I say that without wish- 
ing; to be offensive." 

Some person remarked, " That may be true possibly. But 
suppose it is, you are not responsible for it ; you are not a citizen 
of Virginia, and it is none of your business, so it don't inter- 
fere with you." 

Broion. — " It would bo perfectly right for any one to inter- 
fere with you at any time and all times. I hold that the 
Golden Kuie, ' Do unto others as you would others would do 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 115 

unto you/ applies to all who would help others to gain their 
liberty." 

Lieut. Stuart. — " But you don't believe in the Bible ? " 

Brown. — " Certainly I do." 

Mr. Vallandlgliam. — " Where did your men come from ? 
Did some of them come from Ohio? " 

Brown. — " Some of them." 

3Ir. V. — " From the Western Reserve, of course ? None 
came from Southern Ohio ? " 

Broion. — " Oh yes ; I believe one came from below Steu- 
benville, down not far from Wheeling." 

Mr.'V. — " Have you been in Ohio this summer?" 

Brown. — " Yes, Sir." 

Mr. F.—" How late?" 

Brown. — " I passed through to Pittsburg on my way here 
in June." 

Mr. V. — " Were you at any County or State fairs there ? " 

Brown. — " I was not there since June."' 

Mr. V. — " Were you ever in Dayton ? " 

Broion. — " Yes, I must have been." 

Mr. F.— " This summer ? " 

Brown. — " No ; a year or two since." 

Senator Mason. — " Brown, does this talking annoy you at 
all?" 
. Brown. — " Not in the least." 

Mr. V. — " Have you lived long in Ohio ? " 

Brown. — "I went there in 1825. I lived in Summit 
County, which was then Trumbull County. My native place 
is York State." 

Mr. V. — " Do you recollect a man in Ohio named Brown, 
a noted counterfeiter ? " 



116 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Brown. — " I do ; knew liini from a boy. His father was 
Henry Brown, of Irisli or Scotch descent ; the family Avas very 
low." 

Jf}.. J/; — " Have you ever been in Portage County ? " 

Brown. — " I was there in June last." 

Mr. V. — " When in Cleveland, did you attend the Fugitive 
Slave Law Convention ? " 

Brown. — " No ; I was there about the time of the sitting 
of the court to try the Oberlin rescuers. I spoke there publicly 
on that subject; I spoke on the Fugitive Slave Law, and my 
own rescue, of course. So far as I had any reference at all, I 
was disposed to justify the Oberlin people for rescuing a slave, 
because I have myself forcibly taken slaves from bondage. I 
Avas concerned in taking eleven slaves from Missouri to Canada 
last winter. I think I spoke in Cleveland before the Conven- 
tion ; do not know that I had any conversation with any of tTie 
Oberlin rescuers. Was sick part of the time I was in Ohio ; 
had the ague. Was part of the time in Ashtabula County." 

3fr. V. — " Did you see anything of Joshua R. Giddings 
there?" 

Brown. — " I did meet him." 

3fr. F.— " Did you consult with him ? " 

Brown. — " If I did I would not tell you, of course, any- 
thing that Avould implicate Mr. Giddings, but I certainly saw 
him and had a conversation with him." 

Mr. V. — "I don't mean about this affair of yours, I mean 
about that rescue case." 

Brown. — " Oh yes, I did hear him express his opinion on 
it very freely and frankly." 

Mr. F.—" Justifying it?" 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 117 

Brown. — " Yes, Sir ; I do not compromise him by saying 
that." 

Here a bystander asked him if he did not go out to Kansas 
under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society of New 
England ? 

Brown. — " No, Sir ; I went under the auspices of Old John 
Brown, and nobody else." 

3Ir. V. — " Will you answer this question ? Did you talk 
with Giddings about your expedition here ? " 

Brown. — " No, Sir, I won't answer that, because a denial of 
it I would not make, and to make an affirmation of it I should 
be a great dunce." 

Mr: V. — " Have you had any correspondence with parties 
in the North on the subject of this movement?" 

Brown. — " I have had correspondence." 

Mr. Vallandigham now walked away, and a bystander, to 
Mr. V. unknown, commenced a conversation with Brown, in 
which among other things he asked the latter whether he con- 
sidered his late attempt to forcibly liberate the slaves was a 
religious movement? To this Brown replied that in liis 
opinion it was the greatest service a man could render to God, 
and that he considered himself an instrument in the hands of 
Providence. He was asked by another man upon what prin- 
ciple he justified his acts ? Brown responded, " By the Golden 
Rule. I pity the poor in bondage : that is why I am here. 
It is not to gratify any personal animosity, or feeling of re- 
venge, or of a vindictive spirit. It is my sympathy with the 
oppressed and wronged, that are as good as you and as precious 
in the sight of God." 

Bystander. — " Certainly ; but why take the slaves against 
their will?" 



118 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Brown answered with great warmth, " I never did." 

Bystander. — " You did in one instance I know of at least." 

Stevens here spoke up and said, "You are right in one 
case. In one case I know the negro wanted to go back ;" and 
then addressing himself to Brown, " Captain, the gentleman is 
right." Brown made no further remark upon the subject. 

JNIr. Vallandigham, who had approached Stevens when he 
commenced speaking, now asked him : " How recently did you 
leave Ashtabula County ? " 

Stevens. — "Some months ago. I never lived there any 
length of time, but have often been through there." 

Mr. V. — " How far did you live from Jefferson ? " 
, Brown advised Stevens not to answer this question, and 
Stevens was accordmgly silent. He turned over Avith a groan 
and seemed to j^ay no further attention to those around him ; 
he Avas CAadently suffering greatly from his AA^ounds, although 
they had been A\-ell attended to and skilfully dressed. 

Mr. V. to Brown. — " Who AA-ere your adA'isers in this moA'c- 
ment?" 

Brown. — "I haA'e numerous sympathisers tlrroughout the 
entire North." 

Mr. T:— "In Northern Ohio?" 

Broicn. — "I^o, no more than anywhere else in all the 
Northern States." 

In reply to a question asked by one of the gentlemen stand- 
ing near, Brown then said he had giA^en up the idea of securing 
freedom to the negroes by moral suasion brought to bear on 
their masters ; said he, " I don't think the people of the SlaA'e 
States Avill ever consider the subject of slavery in its true light 
until some other argument is resorted to than moral suasion." 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 119 

31)'. V. — " Did you expect a general rising of the slaves 
in case of success ? " 

Broum. — "Xo, Sir, nor did I wish it; I expected to gather 
strength from time to time, then I could set them free." 

One of the bystanders hinted that Brown had a further 
object in view than " freeing the darkies," and referred to the 
taking of Col. Washington's watch. Brown said, " Oh yes ; 
we intended freely to have appropriated the property of slave- 
holders to carry out our object. It was for that, and only that; 
we had no design to enrich ourselves with any plunder what- 
ever." Mr. Vallaudigham then inquired about his wound, and 
seeing the surgeon coming to dress it, left the room. 

This interview made a very deep impression upon Mr. V.'s 
mind ; he often referred to it, and spoke of John Brown as one 
of the most remarkable men he ever met. He was attacked 
most violently by the Republican papers for holding the con- 
versation, and it was much misrepresented ; but he never re- 
gretted it, nor did he regard his conduct in any way indelicate. 
He found Brown not only willing but anxious to talk, and in 
the full possession of his mental faculties. He did not press 
him to answer any inquiries ; he put him on his guard, in one 
iustance at least, to consider whether the question should be 
answered or not, by prefacing the interrogatory with the 
question, "Will you answer this?" and he was kind and cour- 
teous in his manner to the prisoner, although he knew of his 
vicious and bloody career in Kansas. He did desire to learn 
whether Brown had any support or assistance from prominent 
men in the North in making tliis most outrageous attack upon 
the people of the South. 

Although John Brown had been a very bad man, had been 



120 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

engaged in the horrible murder of tlie Doyle family in Kansas, 
and other murders there, had been guilty of stealing horses in 
Missouri, yet the desperate sincerity of the man in his anti- 
Slavery views could not but awaken a feeling akin to admira- 
tion in the bosom of one who, in the vindication of his own 
peculiar views, was willing at all times to stake fortune, popu- 
larity, and life itself He felt profoundly the conviction that if 
John Brown was to suffer the penalty for the actual commis- 
sion of murder and robbery, his aiders and abettors, the acces- 
sories before the fact, should also be discovered and punished. 
With this idea he endeavored in his interview with Brown to 
get some clue as to who the parties were that advised and aided 
him, and furnished him the means to perpetrate the crimes 
which he had committed upon the soil of the Old Dominion. 
In answer to the attacks of the Republican papers upon him in 
regard to this matter, he published the following letter : — 

" Dayton, O., Saturday, Oct. 22, 1859. 
" To the Editor of the Enquirer : 

" The Cincinnati 'Gazette of yesterday contains what purports 
to be a conversation between ohn Brown, the Harper's Ferry 
insurgent, and myself. The editorial criticism in that paper, 
while unjust, is, nevertheless, moderate and decent in temper 
and langiiage. Not so the vulgar but inoffensive comments 
of the Commercial and the Ohio ^State Journal of to-day. Self- 
respect forbids to a gentleman any notice of such assaults. 
But the report and editorial of the Gazette convey an erroneous 
impression, which I desire briefly to correct. 

" Passing of necessity through Harper's Ferry, on Wednes- 
day last, on my way homo from Washington City, I lay over 
at that place between morning and evening trains for the West. 
Through the politeness of Colonel Lee, the commanding .officer, 
1 was allowed to enter the Armory enclosure. Inspecting the 
several objects of interest there, and among them the office 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 121 

building, I came to the room where Brown and Stevens lay, 
and went in, not aware that Senator Mason or any reporter 
was present till I entered, and without any purpose of asking 
a single question of the prisoners ; and had there been no pris- 
oners there I should have visited and inspected the place just 
as I did, in all these particulars. 

" No ' interview ' was asked for by me or any one else of 
John Brown, and none granted, whether ' voluntarily and 
out of pure good-will,' or otherwise. Brown had no voice in 
the matter^ the room being open equally to all who were per- 
mitted to enter the Armory enclosure. All went and came 
alike without consulting Brown, nor did he know either my- 
self or the other gentlemen witli whom he conversed. Enter- 
ing the room, I found Senator Mason, of Virginia, tliere casu- 
ally, together with eight or ten others, and Brown conversing 
freely v.dth all who chose to address him. Indeed he seemed 
eager to talk to every one ; and new visitors were coming and 
going every moment. There was no arrangement to have any 
reporter; nor did I observe for some minutes after I entered 
that any were present. Some one from New York was taking 
sketches of Brown and Stevens during the conversation, and 
the reporter of the Herald made himself known to me a short 
time afterward ; but I saw nothing of the Gazette reporter till 
several hours later, and then at the hotel in the village. 

" Finding Brown anxious to talk and ready to answer any 
one who chose to ask a question, and having heard that the 
insurrection had been planned at the Ohio State Fair held at 
Zanesville in September, I very naturally made the inquiry 
of him, among other things, as to the truth of the statement. 
Learning from his answers that he had lived in Ohio for fifty 
years, and had visited the State in INIay or June last, I prose- 
cuted my inquiries to ascertain what connection his conspiracy 
might have had with the ' Oberliu Rescue ' trials then pend- 
ing, and the insurrectionary movement at that time made in 
the Western Reserve to organise forcible resistance to the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law ; and I have only to regret that I did not 
pursue the matter further, asking more questions and making 
them more specific. It is possible that some others who are so 
tenderly sensitive in regard to what was developed might have 
been equally implicated. Indeed, it is incredible that a mere 
casual conversation, such as the one held by me with John 



122 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Brown, should excite such paroxysms of rage and call forth so 
much vulgar but impotent vituperation, unless there be much 
more yet undisclosed. Certain it is that three of the negroes, 
and they from Oberlin, and at least six of the white men, nine 
in all out of the nineteen, including John Brown, the leader 
of the insurrection, were, or had been, from Ohio, where they 
had received sympathy and counsel, if not material aid in their 
conspiracy. 

'' But the visit and interrogation were both casual, and did 
not continue over twenty minutes at the longest. Brown, so 
far from being exhausted, volunteered several speeches to the 
reporter, and more than once insisted that the conversations did 
not disturb or annoy him in the least. The report in the New 
York Herald, of October 21st, is generally very accurate, 
though several of the questions attributed to me, and particu- 
larly the first four, ought to have been put in the mouth of 
' Bystander,' who, by the way, represents at least half a score 
of different persons. As to the charge preferred of ' breach of 
good taste and propriety,' and all that, I propose to judge of 
it for myself, having been present on the occasion. There 
was neither ' interview,' ' catechising,' ' inquisition,' ' pumping,' 
nor any effort of the kind, but a short and casual conversation 
with the leader of a bold and murderous insurrection, a man 
of singular intelligence, in full possession of all his faculties, 
and anxious to explain his plans and motives so far as pos- 
sible without implicating his confederates otherwise than by 
declining to answer. The developments are important : let 
the galled jades wince. 

" And now allow mo to add that it is vain to underrate 
either the man or his conspiracy. Captain John Brown is as 
brave and resolute a man as ever headed an insurrection, and, 
in a good cause, and with a sufficient force, would have been a 
consummate partisan commander. He has coolness, daring, 
persistency, the stoic faith and patience, and a firmness of will 
and purpose unconquerable. He is tall, wiry, muscular, but 
with little flesh — with a cold gray eye, gray hair, beard and 
mustache, compressed lips and sharp aquiline nose, of cast-iron 
face and frame, and with powers of endurance equal to any- 
thing needed to be done or suffered in any cause. Though en- 
gaged in a wicked, mad and fanatical enterprise, he is the far- 
.thest possible remove from the ordinary ruffian, fanatic or mad- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 123 

man ; but his powers firo rather executory than inventive, and 
he never had the depth or breadth of mind to originate and 
contrive himself the plan of insurrection which he undertook 
to carry out. The conspiracy Avas, unquestionably, far more 
extended than yet appears, numbering among the conspirators 
many more than the handful of followers who assailed Harper's 
Ferry, and havi.ig in the North and West, if not also the 
South, as its counsellors and abettors, men of intelligence, posi- 
tion and wealth. Certainly it was one among the best-planned 
and executed conspiracies that ever fliiled. 

" For two years he had been plotting and preparing it with 
aiders and comforters a thousand miles apart, in the slave 
States and the free; for six months he lived* without so much 
as suspicion in a slave State, and near the scene of the insur- 
rection, winning even the esteem and confidence of his neigh- 
bors, yet collecting day by day large quantities of arms, and 
making ready for the outbreak. He had as complete an equip- 
ment, even to intrenching tools, as any commander in a regular 
campaign, and intended, like Napoleon, to make war support 
war. He had Sharpe's rifles and Maynard's revolvers for 
marksmen, and pikes for the slaves. In the dead^ hour of 
night, crossing the Potomac, he seized the Armory with many 
thousand stand of arms and other munitions of war; and 
making prisoners of more than thirty of the workmen, officers 
and citizens, overawed the town of Harper's Ferry with its 
thousand inhabitants. With less than half a score of men 
surviving, he held the Armory for many hours, refusing, 
though cut oif from all succor and surrounded upon all sides, to 
surrender, and was taken with sword in hand, overpowered by 
superior numbers, yet fighting to the last. During this short 
insurrection eighteen men were killed and ten or more severely 
wounded — twice the number killed and wounded on the part 
of the American force at the Battle of New Orleans. 

" John Brown failed to excite a general and most wicked, 
bloody and desolating servile and civil war, only because the 
slaves and non-slaveholding white men of the vicinity, the 
former twenty thousand in number, would not rise. He had 
prepared arms and ammunition for fifteen hundred men, and 
captured at the first blow enough to arm more than fifty 
thousand ; and yet he had less than thirty men — more, never- 
theless, than have begun half the revolutions and conspiracies 



124 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKD-JGHAM. 

which history records. But he had not tampered with slaves, 
nor solicited the non-slaveholding whites around him, because 
he really believed that the moment the blow was struck they 
would gather to his standard, and expecting, furthermore, the 
promised reinforcements instantly from the North and West. 
This was the basis upon which the whole conspiracy was 
planned ; and had his belief been well founded, he would un- 
questionably have succeeded in stirring up a most formidalile 
insurrection, possibly involving the peace of the whole coun- 
try, and requiring, certainly, great armies and vast treasure to 
suppress it. 

" Here was his folly and madness. He believed and acted 
upon the faith which for twenty years has been so persistently 
taught in every form throughout the free States, and which is 
but another mode of statement of the doctrine of the 'irre- 
pressible conflict' — that slavery and the three hundred and 
seventy thousand slaveholders of the South are only tolerated, 
and that the millions of slaves aud non-slaveholding white 
men are ready and eager to rise against the ' oligarchy,' need- 
ing only a leader and deliverer. The conspiracy was the natu- 
ral and necessary consequence of the doctrines proclaimed every 
day, year in and year out, by the apostles of Abolition. But 
Brown was sincere, earnest, practical : he pro^Dosed to add 
works to his faith, reckless of murder, treason, and every other 
crime. This was his madness and folly. He perishes justly 
and miseraljly — an insurgent and a felon ; but guiltier than 
he, and with his. blood upon their heads, and the blood of all 
whom he caused to be slain, are the false and cowardly pro- 
phets and teachers of Abolition. 

''C. L. Yallaxdigham." 

The sensation in the South occasioned by this remarkable raid 
at Harper's Ferry was wide-spread and profound. It created 
intense indignation and alarm in all the slaveholding States. 
In many of them preparations were immediately commenced 
for civil war, AVhat most alarmed thinking men in the South 
was this : at the commencement of the anti-Slavery movement 
in the North, those who were most deeply interested in the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 125 

cause were meu of seutimental feeling, Utopian dreamers, im- 
practicable enthusiasts, transcendental philosophers, Quaker 
poets — non-combatants all. Then the politicians took hold of 
the movement, and ^xere elevated to places of honor and emolu- 
ment bv its potent influence. But neither of these classes \ras 
regarded as dangerous ; the one shrunk from any physical con- 
test, the other had no deep convictions, no real heart-earnestness, 
and looked upon the anti-Slavery sentiment simply as an ele- 
ment to use for political advancement — a feeling wliich would 
soon die away when the irritating questions of Territorial govern- 
ment should be disposed of, and willing to biu-y it quietly, as 
many of them did "AmericanLsm" or "Know-nothingism," 
when its influence should cease to be powerful or to advance 
their own personal interests. But this raid developed the fact 
that another class was becoming aroused and interested — men 
of deeds, men of action; not cimning schemers or caucus-mana- 
gers, but fierce, aggressive, strong-handed men, some of them 
perhaps unable to give audible expression to the thoughts that 
burned within them, but ready to attack, to fight, to shed blood, 
to die for the cause in which they had embarked. Truly 
Southern statesmen might well be alarmed at this new anti- 
Slavery development. 

Union meetings were held all over the North for the purpose 
of re-assuring the Southern people, and in deprecation of the 
attack that had been made ujjon them. But these could do little 
good. The presiding officers and the speakers at these meetings 
were conservative men, true patriots, lovers of the Union, but 
they were men whose political influence had passed away, poli- 
ticians from whom the sceptre had departed ; they represented * 
a minority, and a minority from which the South had no cause 



126 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and no feeling of apprehension. These meetings had little 
significance, and though kindly meant, were useless — perhaps 
worse than useless, for they kindled an enthusiasm for Union 
Avithout regard to the Constitution ; and thousands who were 
yelling around the platform responsive to denunciations of the 
Abolition agitators who had "attacked and murdered om* 
Southern bretln-en," in less than two years were yelling with 
equal enthusiasm as "Southern brethren" by thousands fell 
beneath the roar of their cannon and the volleys of their 
muskets. 

Other measures were needed and would have been effective. 
Had the Northern people repealed their " personal liberty bills," 
as they were called, enactments made for the very purpose of 
nullifying certain provisions of the Constitution of the United 
States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof; had they 
ceased to agitate the question of slavery, and left to tlie people 
of the South the same privilege M'hich they themselves 
exercised, that of regulating as they pleased their own domestic 
institutions, the storm would have blown over. The evil of 
slavery — for we acknowledge it was an evil — it is true would for 
a time have remained, but ultimately it would have been removed, 
gradually, and without detriment to slaveholder or slave; a long 
and bloody civil war would have been avoided, the terrible 
effects of wdiich are felt to this day, and will be felt for years, 
perhaps for generations to come ; the Union would have been 
preserved, a Union of love and affection as established by om' 
fathers ; and peace, harmony and prosperity would have pre- 
vailed throughout the length and the breadth of om- widely 
'extended countrv. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE THIRT Y-S IXTII CONGRESS. 

Ox the 5tli day of December, 1859, the Thirty-Sixth Con- 
gress commeuced its first session. It was a time of great ex- 
citement throughout the country, occasioned by the recent 
" John Brown raid," and by the publication and wide circula- 
tion of a book called the " Impending Crisis." To the former 
we have already given considerable space : the latter demands 
a passing notice. The "Impending Crisis" was written by 
Hinton R. Helper, a man then unknown to fame and without 
position in society. A few quotations from the book will ex- 
hibit its atrocious character and wicked purpose. 

The book recommends the following course of action to 
citizens of the South not holding slaves : — 

1st. — "Thorough organization and independent political 
action on the part of the non-slaveholding whites of the 
South." 

2d. — " Ineligibility of pro-slavery slaveholders. Never 
another vote to any one who advocates the retention and per- 
petuation of human slavery." 

3d. — " No co-operation with pro-slavery politicians ; no 
fellowship with them in religion ; no affiliation with them in 
society." 



128 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

4tli. — " No patronage to pro-slavery merchants ; no guest- 
ship in slave-^yaiting hotels ; no fees to pro-slavery la^^yers ; 
no employment of pro-slavery physicians ; no audience to pro- 
slavery parsons," &c., &c. 

The following sentences also occur in the book : — ■ 

" Against slaveholders as a body we wage an exterminating 
war." "y^^G contend that slaveholders arc more criminal than 
common murderers." " The negroes, nine cases out of ten, 
Avould be delighted at the opportunity to cut their masters' 
throats." 

This book, abounding in sentiments like these, and some far 
more offensive than any we have quoted, was highly commended 
by leading Republicans, was indorsed by a large majority of 
Republican Congressmen, and was by them circulated by tens 
of thousands in every part of the land. 

The excitement prevailing throughout the country was of 
course intensely felt and conspicuously exhibited in Congress. 
In the House neither of the two great political parties which 
nearly equally divided the country, had a majority ; the balance 
of power was with what was called the American party ; a 
small band, but just then one of influence and importance. In 
consequence of this state of things the election of a Speaker 
was a very difficult matter, and a bitter struggle ensued, j^ro- 
tracted for two months. John Sherman, of Ohio, was nomin- 
ated by the Republicans ; but as he was an indorser of Helj^er's 
book, his election was violently opposed and ultimately de- 
feated. The discussions from day to day were of a most tur- 
bulent character. A majority of the members came to the 
llouse armed ; fierce Avords Avere spoken, and often there 
seemed imminent danger of personal collision. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 129 

On the 14th of December, Mr. Yallandigham obtained the 
floor for the purpose of making a speech ; as, however, it was 
late in the evening, he asked for an adjournment. This, though 
customary as a matter of courtesy, the Kepublican members 
refused. They knew that he was a bitter opponent of Aboli- 
tionism ; his interview with John Brown, grossly misrepre- 
sented as it was by Republican papers, had offended them, and 
they determined to annoy him in his effort to speak, or to 
prevent it altogether. He, however, took his stand at the 
head of the middle aisle, and in the midst of all their disorder 
and confusion firmly and calmly maintained it. Postponing 
for the present the speech he had intended to make, he con- 
sumed the time in severe criticism of Helper's book, till, tired 
of the unpalatable dose he was administering to them, they 
gladly consented to an adjournment. The next morning he 
was permitted to speak without interruption. Two brief 
extracts from that speech, as reported in the National lateUi- 
(/encer, we here give for the purpose of exhibiting his strong 
Union feeling, and the cause and the extent of his Southern 
sympathies : — 

_ " Mr. Yallandigham, of Ohio, addressed the House. He 
said, though a young man, still he had seen some legislative 
service; but he had always endeavored so to be a politician as 
not to forget that he was a gentleman, and he was resolved to 
exact from others that courtesy which he was always willing 
to award. He charged the Republican party witli discourtesy 
in refusing to adjourn, according to his desire, last evening. 
He liad said that if any man had endorsed a book of an incen- 
diary character, and had refused to disavow its sentiments, he 
was not fit to be Speaker or member of this House, and he re- 
peated that assertion to-day. A slaveholder had stated that 
such a person was not fit to live, but there was no indignation 



./ 



130 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

on the Republican side of the House manifested as there had 
been when he made his declaration. He would inform gentle- 
men on that side that he was their peer, and he would exact 
from them as a Western Democrat the same consideration 
which they were forced to give Southern slaveholders. If they 
thought otherwise they had yet to learn his character, for he 
Avas as good a Western fire-eater as the hottest salamander in 
this House. [Laughter and applause.] He had been served 
with a notice this morning that the liepublican side did not 
intend to listen to any further discussion. He cared not 
whether they would listen or not; he told them the country 
held its breath in suspense upon every word said here, and he 
was determined to declare his sentiments. 

" In this sectional controversy he held a position of armed 
neutrality. He was not a Northern man with Southern prin- 
ciples, but a United States man with United States principles ; 
but M'hen the South was threatened with armed invasions, 
servile insurrections, and the torch of the incendiary, his sym- 
pathies were wholly for her. He had no respect for Southern 
rights simply as such ; let the South defend them, as he knew 
they would and could ; but he had a tender regard for his OM'n 
obligations. As a Korthern man he would give the South all 
her constitutional rights, including three-fifths rule, fugitive 
islave law, equal rights in the territories, and whatever else the 
Constitution gives. [Applause.] He was not true to the 
.South in the sense of defending Southern institutions and giv- 
ing Southern votes on questions regardless of his Free State 
identity ; but he was true to the South, as were the great mass 
Ojf the Democratic party in the North, in maintaining all the 
constitutional riirhts of the South arainst all her enemies what- 
soever. There were three classes in the country : those who 
were pro-slavery, those who were anti-slavery, and those who 
occupied a middle or neutral ground ; and to the latter class he 
claimed to belong. That, lie believed, was the true ground for 

all Conservative Union men of this country He was 

opposed to disunion, come from whatever quarter it might. 
But the South had an ample apology in the events of the last 
few months. War, open war, had been proclaimed against 
them, and arson and murder had been committed in their 
streets. The murderer had been executed, but he had risen 
fi'om the dead a hero and a martv'r, and his followers were 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAITDIGHAM. 131 

gathering strength and only awaiting the hour to renew the 
invasion. These things were ample apology for the alarm and 
indignation which pervade the South. But would they secede 
now? Would they break up the Union of these States, and 
bring down forever, in one promiscuous ruin, the pillars and 
columns of this magnificent temple of liberty which our fathers 
reared? Wait a little. Let them try agaiu the peaceful 
remedy of the ballot-box, more potent than the bayonet. He' 
was not as hopeful of the final result as some; but he was 
taught in his infancy that he should never despair of the Re- 
public. He believed in an overruling Providence, and that 
God had fore-ordained for this country a higher, mightier, 
nobler destiny than for any other country since the world began. 
Time's noblest empire was the last. From the North Pole to 
the Isthmus of Daricn, from the Atlantic ocean to the Allc- 
ghanies, stretching over the vast basin of the Mississippi, 
scaling the Rocky Mountains, and lost at last in the blue waters 
of the Pacific, he beheld the future of this country in patriotic 
vision, one Union, one Constitution, one destiny. [Applause.] 
But this magnificent destiny could only be achieved by us as a 
united people." 

This speech, the first of any length delivered by Mr. Val- 
landigham, was highly applauded. 

We presant two short extracts from papers published at the 
time : — 

From the Journal of Commerce : — 

" Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, who is a fine speaker as well 
as a sound thinker, made a capital Union speech to-day against 
sectionalism and ultraism on both sides. He declares one 
thing in which every Western man concurs, to wit : that the 
great West will never allow a dissolution of the Union." 

From the Washington Star : — 

"Mr. Vallandigham delivered a national speech in the House 
hall this morning, which won him great oratorical reputation, 
and was in itself a key to the remarkable opposition manifested 



132 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

by the Rej)ubllcan party members yesterday to his effort to 
address the body. That is to say, they had no fancy to permit 
a gentleman to speak who woukl surely place them much more 
clearly on the defensive than before. We take it for granted 
that no Speaker will be elected until the best reply that can 
possibly be made to Mr. V.'s speech shall have been made." 

After angry discussions, exciting scenes, and frequent bal- 
lottings from day to day, continued through the months of 
December and Januaiy, at length, on the 1st day of February, 
a SjDeaker was elected, the Hon. Wm. Pennington, of New 
Jersey, a moderate Republican, and one who was not an in- 
dorser of Helper's book. 

About this time, complaint was made to Mr. Vallandigham 
])y the editor of a religious and political paper published in his 
district, that its circulation in the South was obstructed by the 
unlawful action of certain Southern postmasters. The paper 
in question was an Abolition sheet, and these postmasters, re- 
garding it as incendiary and mischievous, had taken the 
responsibility in some cases of withholding it from subscribers, 
or even of destroying it. Mr. Vallandigham was no friend to 
the paper, to its spirit or purpose; but he was in favor of 
free speech, a free press, and the free and unobstructed circula- 
tion of newspapers. He promptly interposed, and through his 
influence the grievance was redressed. Yet the very men who 
had invoked his aid and commended his course in securing a 
free transmission through the mails of this paper — a paper of 
the kind which the people of the South regarded as not only 
insulting but dangerous — these men in less than two years 
Avere clamorous for the suppression of the Democratic press 
throughout the land, and eager to silence the voice of all who 
dared to differ Irom them as to the measures best calculated to 
promote the peace and harmony and prosperity of the country. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 133 

In February, Mr. Vallandigliam delivered a brief eulogy 
upon the occasion of the death of Mr. Goode, of Virginia ; and 
in March spoke at length against the " hour-rule/' denouncing 
it as a chief source of evil in legislation and parliamentary pro- 
ceeding. He offered an amendment : " That the limitation 
of debate to one hour shall apply only to speeches read by 
members in the House or Committee." He would have pre- 
ferred to have the rule abrogated altogether, but' believing that 
this could not be accomplished, he thought that by adopting the 
amendment the evil would be mitigated. It was an evil, and 
had been wherever it had obtained. At Athens, in her Icgis- 
lativo assembly there was no limit to public debate, and hence 
those splendid remains of Grecian eloquence which challenged 
the admiration of the world to this day. But "in the judicial 
courts of Athens the rule did prevail, and forensic eloquence 
attained but small importance in Greece. Limitation upon 
debate was not known in the Roman Senate, or at the Roman 
bar in the earlier days of the Republic ; but as she began 
to fall into decay the "hour-rule" was applied in judicial 
trials, and according to the testimony of her historians, from 
that moment forensic eloquence perished. But to come down 
to our own times, it was the testimony of men who had 
long served in Congress, that since the adoption of the " hour- 
rule," speeches had increased in quantity and deteriorated in 
quality. The rule had been vehemently assailed by Mr. 
Benton. Mr. Calhoun had denounced it as " destroying the 
liberties of the people by gagginfj their Representatives ; " and 
it had been opposed by John Quincy Adams, and by many 
others of the oldest and ablest members of the House. He 
would not disparage, as some were disposed to do, those care- 



134 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

fully prepared and elegantly written lectures which often 
wearied the patience of the House ; but these essays or lectures 
were not delivered in the .proper place : they belonged to the 
lyceum and not to legislation. He longed to see restored 
to the House legitimate debate — that interesting and exciting 
debate so highly dramatic in character, now heard only in the 
Senate of the United States or in the Parliament of Great 
Britain, but which since the adoption of the " hour-rule " had 
almost wholly disappeared from the Representative Chamber, 
and lingered only in the memory or the records of the past. 
He concluded thus : 

" The discussion upon the Lecompton Constitution, in which 
from one hundred and seventy to two hundred speeches were 
delivered or read, occupied the time, if not the attention, of the 
House from the 16th of December until the 30th of April. 
And why is this ? Because we have no legitimate debate. The 
speech of one member docs not follow that of another. One set 
of ideas or arguments is not provoked by another urged by the 
speaker who preceded. We hear none and have none of that 
kind of debate. Disconnected lectures, Avrittcn weeks before, 
and concealed in the desks of members, are continually produced 
here and read to empty benches, and yet go forth to the country 
as speeches which thrill the hearts of members and those who 
throng our galleries. 

''Sir, I remember, as an illustration this moment occurring to 
me, that a member from Illinois read an essay upon this floor 
in the month of February one year ago, late at night, to three 
members and five pages [laugliter], and yet the next day it was 
telegraphed to a leading paper in the city of New York as one 
of the most thrilling speeches ever delivered in the House, 
remarkable especially for its fearlessness and the boldness of 
its denunciation [renewed laughter], and perfectly electrifying 
every one present. Now, is it not time that this evil was 
remedied ? I repeat again, that the quantum of speaking will 
not be increased by the abrogation of the hour-rule ; the num- 
ber of pages which make up your Congressional Globe will not 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 135 

be multiplied ; and what difference is it to us or to the country 
whether one man shall speak for two hours or two men speak 
for one hour each ? It may be of some moment to our particu- 
lar constituencies, but it is none to the whole country. Let 
gentlemen who would discuss mere partisan or local topics, go 
back to the ancient usage, which prevailed some forty years ago, 
of publishing addresses upon such questions to their constituents. 
Let us agree henceforth that what is said upon the floor here shall 
relate to the great measures of public policy and legislation which 
may come before us, and not to mere fleeting and temporary sub- 
jects of controversy between parties. No reform which we can 
devise will tend so far to bring the House back to its ancient 
dignity and decorum, and to that high repute which belonged 
to it in the earlier days of the Republic. 

" I desire to call the attention of the committee to the fact 
that for thirty years after the organization of this Government 
the Senate was not the centre of attraction. It was the House 
upon which the eyes of the country were turned. It was here, 
Sir, that in those days there were gathered an Ames, a JNIadison, 
an Ellsworth, a Randolph, a Sherman, and others of a like fame 
who have made the history of our country illustrious. But for 
thirty years now, and especially within the twenty years past, 
since the adoption of the hour-rule, along with other evils, the 
importance and even the equality of the House has been lost, 
and it is the Senate whose galleries the people throng now ; it is 
the Senate that has drawn upon itself the chief attention of the 
country ; it is the debates in the Senate for which the public look ; 
it is the speeches delivered in the Senate v/hich circulate 
throughout the land; and, finally, it is the Senate, as the gentle- 
man from Virginia [jNIr. Garnett] suggested, w^hich is not only 
absorbing all the legislation of the country, but is moulding 
that public opinion which controls the Government. Is it not 
apparent then, I ask, that there should be found, and right 
speedily, a remedy for the disrepute into which this House has 
fallen ? What that remedy may be I leave to your wisdom, 
gentlemen, to devise ; but I repeat that the abrogation of the 
* hour-rule' is, in my opinion, the first and a most important 
step in that direction. 

" 3Ir. Cox. — I wish to ask my colleague a single question. 
He seems to hav<3 taken the British House of Commons as his 
model of a parliamentary body. 



136 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 

" Ifr.Vallandlgham. — Not altogether, although this Plouse 
was certainly modeled after it. 

" 3Ir. Cox. — My colleague has, no doilbt, read in Ten 
Thousand a Year of one Tittlebat Titmouse, who broke dowij a 
ministry by crowing at an inopportune time. [ Laughter.] I 
suppose that, to carry out the system in this House, it should 
be the duty of the Speaker to appoint persons who are to per- 
form that duty. But, as my colleague refers to classic authori- 
ties, I ask him Avhether it was not true that the ' hour-rule ' 
always prevailed in the Roman Senate ? 

" Mr. Yallandigham. — Certainly not. 

"il/y. Cox. — I ask if it was not extraordinary that those 
great declamations of Demosthenes and ^'Eschines always came 
out in exactly sixty minutes ? 

" 3lr. Va'llandigham. — My colleague is, as Titmouse would 
say, a most 'respectable gent;' and no doubt the incident to 
wdiicli he has referred in that gentleman's parliamentary career, 
illustrating his powers of crowing, was called to mincl by the 
similarity between my colleague's name [Mr. Cox] and the 
barn-yard fowl called 

' Chanticleer "who wakes the morn.' 

He is the very bird for the new office he proposes. [Laughter.] 
But I regret that he has exhibited such lamentable forgctful- 
ness, at least, in regard to the Roman and Grecian eloquence 
to which I had made allusion by way of illustration. If he 
had recently read the speeches of Demosthenes and ^schines 
to which he refers, he would not have asked whether they were 
not spoken in sixty minutes. Certainly they cannot now be 
read in two hours, and that without including the documents 
quoted by the orators. 

"Mr. Cox. — That depends upon whether they are read in 
the original. [Laughter.] 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — I do not profess to be as familiar 
with Greece as my colleague. He has seen the ' isles of Greece,' 
visited the classic shores of Attica, walked the streets of 
Athens, and stood upon the Acropolis. I have not. He 
visited Rome, too ; though I may not speak of what he saw or 
heard m the Eternal City; he has written it in a book. 
[Laughter.] But I Avill not occupy the time of the committee 



l::fe of clement l. vallandigham. 137 

longer. By reason of the very evil of interruptions of which 
I complained, I have been forced to speak at far greater length 
than I intended. I beg pardon, gentlemen." 

About the same time he spoke in support of a Ijill he had 
offered to provide for the better arming of the militia of the 
States. It was a subject to which he had always devoted much 
attention, having while a student of law held the position of 
Division-Inspector in his native county, with the rank of 
Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1857, upon the reorganization of the 
volunteer militia of Ohio, he had been chosen a Brigadier- 
General, and had spent no small amount of money and time to 
bring his command into good condition and ^discipline. He 
now labored earnestly, at this and the succeeding session, to 
procure arms from the Federal Government, thougli without 
success. 

In April, 1860, as Secretary of the National Democratic 
Committee, he attended the Presidential Convention at 
Charleston, S. C. Though never an indorser of Mr. Douglass's 
peculiar views in reference to " Squatter Sovereignty," or the 
power of the inhabitants of a Territory over the institution 
of Slavery, yet for personal reasons, and because he 'believed him 
to be the fittest man to meet the impending crisis, he sincerely 
supported that gentleman for the nomination. At the same 
time he saw with anxiety and alarm that the unAvise counsels 
and ill-advised measures of some of Mr. Dougla$s's friends 
were about to be used by his extreme Southern opponents to 
break up the Convention, and did not hesitate to speak his 
mind freely. Foreseeing in this, as in so much else, the ap- 
proaching storm of civil war, he earnestly labored to avert the 
mischief. Men over-zealous in supj)ort of their favorite, took 



138 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAvI. 

occasion to question liis sincerity. This coming to the notice 
of Mr. Douglass, he rej)lied in a letter to a friend, declaring that 
he never had a moment's doubt of INIr. Vallandigham's honor 
and fidelity ; adding, " Whenever I know a man to be a gen- 
tleman, I always regard liis word as conclusive." 

It was during this Convention that the following incident 
occurred, as related by one of the editors of the Charleston 
(S. C.) Courier : — 

" On one occasion Avhen Mr. Vallandigham, Mr. John A. 
Logan of Illinois, Mr. Larrabee of AVisconsin, and others were 
present, the conversation turned upon the threatcnuig attitude 
of the questions before the convention. Mr. Vallandigham 
rose at the dinner-table with an air of great gravity, and 
said : — ' Gentlemen, if the Democratic party is disrupted in 
this Charleston Convention, the result will be the disruption 
of the Union, and one of the bloodiest civil wars on record, 
the magnitude of which no one can estimate. In the unity 
of the Democratic party, and in the Union, lies the hope of 
the South and of Republican government.' JNIr. Logan re- 
plied : — ' Sit down, Vallandigham, and drink your wine ; you 
are always prophesying.' Mr. Vallandigham rejoined: — 'Gen- 
tlemen, I speak earnestly, because I feel deeply impressed with 
the truth of what I have uttered.' " 

It is manifest that about tliis time Mr. Vallandigham was 
ver}'' apjjrehensive of a dissolution of the Union. In a letter 
to his brother James, dated Washington, D. C, INIay 16, 1860, 

he says : — . 

" As to our political future I am utterly in the dark. 

Providence can save us yet, but nothing else I am not 

troubled so far about my own district — as the Democratic 
party there Avill be united on me, and I shall receive also many 
votes from the ' Union Party,' no doubt. But I shall be con- 
tent whatever betides, for I know that I am in the hands of 
Him Avho doeth all thino;s well. Resignation to His will is 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAJSTDIGHAM. 139 

le of the highest evidences of piety and first duties of a 
hristian, for it is written that godliness with contentment is 
:-eat gain. So that, though I expect to be re-elected, yet 
lould it turn out otherwise, I will return to my profession 
ithout a murmur, and with renewed energy — unless, indeed, 
lat dire and impending calamity, a disrujMon of the Union, 
lOuld occur. In that event, which God in His mercy avert, 
shall have much to do in the scenes which must follow." 

On the 19 th of jNIay Mr. Yallandigham returned home on 

brief visit from AYashington, and addressed the people in 

ont of the court-house. The following are extracts from the 

jeech : — 

**He was not for the North, nor for the South, but for the 
hole country ; and yet in a conflict of sectional interests he 
as for THE West all the time. In a little while, even after 
le present year, men east of the mountains would learn that 
lere was a West, which to them has heretofore been an ' un- 
iscovered country.' He hoped fervently to see the day tvhen 
e should hear no more of 'Sections; but as long as men else- 
here demanded a 'united North,' and a 'united South,' he 
anted to see a 'united West.' Still the 'United States' 
as a better term, more patriotic, more constitutional, and more 
lorious than any of them." 

Eeferring to Mr. Lincoln's " irrepressible conflict " speech 

f 1858 — 

" Mr. Vallandigham proceeded for some time to denounce 
16 sentiment of the speech in a vehement and impassioned 
lanner, as revolutionary, disorganising, subversive of the 
rovernmcnt, and ending necessarily in disunion. Our fathers 
ad founded a government expressly upon the compatibility 
tid harmony of a union of States ' part slave and part free,' 
tid whoever affirmed the contrary, laid the axe at the very 
aot of the Union." 

And in a later speech at the same place he said : — 

" Kill the Northern and Western anti-slavery organization 



140 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

(the Republican party), and the extreme Southern pro-slaveiy 
' fire-eating ' organization of the Cotton States (its oifspring) 
will expire in three months. Continue the Republican party 
— above all, put it in power, and the antagonism will grow 
till the whole South will become a unit." 

On the first of August he addressed a very large Demo- 
cratic meeting at Detroit, Michigan. In the course of the 
speech he said : — 

"For twenty years the country has been agitated by this 
subject of slavery. Men of the North and West have been 
taught to hate the men of the South, and Southerners have 
been taught to hate the men of the North and West. This 
Northern sectionalism and fanaticism has been approaching 
nearer and nearer to Mason and Dixon's line, while the 
Southern fanaticism, starting in the Cotton States, has been 
creeping northwardly, until the two factions have nearly met. 
What will be the inevitable result of the conflict that must 
ensue? They must meet if the floods of fanaticism be not 
checked. AVhen they meet on the plains of Southern Illinois, 
Indiana and Ohio, how long in God's name can the country 
endure ? Human nature hah- been misread from the time of 
Cain to this day, if blood, blood, human blood is not the result. 
But, thank God, between the two sections there is a band of 
national men, patriots, who love their country more than sec- 
tionalism, ready to stay this conflict. Our mission is to drive 
this sectionalism of the North back to Canada, whence it 
sjDrung ; and that of the South back to the Gulf of Mexico." 

It was upon this occasion that he first crossed the river to 
Windsor, little imagining that in three years it Avas to be his 
place of sojourn Avhile in exile for the exercise of his constitu- 
tional rights as a citizen. He foresaw the civil Avar, but not 
the immediate overthrow of personal and political liberty. 

Mr. Douglass having been nominated by the main body of 
the adjourned convention at Baltimore, Mr. Vallandigham 
supported him earnestly throughout the canvass. He wab 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 141 

nself for the fifth time the Democratic candidate in his 
strict for Representative in Congress, and again without the 
'mality of a convention. Tliough not quite the most bitter, 
was the most difficult and delicate of all his canvasses, in- 
oiuch as the opponents of the Republican party were divided 
to three sections, supporting respectively Bell, Breckcnridge, 
d Douglass. Yet he was returned by a majority nearly the 
me as in 1858. Shortly afterwards he went to New York 
d New Jersey to speak, in behalf of the " Union Ticket " in 
ose States ; and it was at the great meeting of November 2d, 

the " Cooper Institute," that he made the declaration that 
iie never would, as a Representative in the Congress of the 
nited States, vote one dollar of money ^vhereby one drop of 
merican blood should be shed in a civil war." Late in the 
ternoon of the day of the election he reached home and gave 
s vote, remarking to a friend that "he feared it was the 
3t which any one would give for a President of the United 
ates." 

On the lOtli of November, four days after the Presidential 
2ction, he published a card in the Cincinnati Enquirer, in 
ply to an attack by a Republican paper. The following is 
L extract : — 

" And now let me add that I did say, not in Washington nor 
a dinner-table, not in the presence of ' fire-eaters/ but in the 
ty of New York, in public assembly of Northern men, and in a 
iblic speech at the Cooper Institute, on the 2d of November, 
560, that 'if any one or more of the States of this Union shoulcl 
any time secede for reasons of the sufficiency and justice of 
hich, before God and the great tribunal of history, they alone 
ay j udge, much as I should deplore it, I never would as et liepre- 
ntatlve iu the Congress of the United States vote one dollar of 
oncy whereby one drop of American blood should be shed in a civil 



142 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

tear. That sentiment, thus uttered in the presence of thousands 
of the merchants and solid men of the free and patriotic city of 
New York, was received witli vehement and long-continued ap- 
plause, the entire vast assemblage rising as one man and cheering 
for some minutes. And I now deliberately repeat and reaffirm 
it, resolved, though I stand alone, though all others yield and 
fall away, to make it good to the last moment of my public life. 
No menace, no public clamor, no taunts, no sneers nor foul de- 
traction from any quarter shall drive me from my firm purpose. 
Ours is a government of opinion, not of force — a Union of free 
will, not arms; and coercion is civil war — a war of sections, a 
war of States, waged by a race compounded and made up of all 
other races, full of intellect, of courage, of will unconquerable, 
and when set on fire by j^assion, the most belligerent and most 
ferocious on the globe — a civil war full of horrors which no 
imagination can conceive and no pen portray. If Abraham Lin- 
coln is wise, looking truth and danger full in the face, he will 
take counsel of the ' old men,' the moderates of his party, and 
advise peace, negotiation, concession ; but if, like the foolish son 
of the wise king, he reject these wholesome counsels, and hearken 
only to the madmen who threaten chastisement with scorpions, 
let him see to it lest it be recorded at last that none remained to 
serve him ' save the house of Judali only.' At least if he will 
forget the secession of the Ten Tribes, Avill he not remember and 
learn a lesson of wisdom from the secession of the Thirteen 
Colonies ? " 

The Presidential election of 18G0 resulted in the choice of 
Abraham Lincoln, and the whole South was forthwith stirred 
with the most violent excitement. Secession of some, if not all, 
of the Southern States became imminent. 

Congress met in second session on the 3d of December. 
To the Democrats of the Free States it was a time of darkness 
and discouragement. For years they had been predicting that 
these troubles would come unless the slavery agitation should 
cease ; but their predictions were disregarded, and they themselves 
were derisively denounced as "Union-shriekers," as "Union- 
savers." They sincerely loved the Union, and had struggled 



/ 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 143 

lard — many of them making sacrifices of personal feeling on 
he subject of slavery, and of their political prospects, in. 
irder to maintain the bonds of brotherhood between the North 
.nd the South. But now it seemed their labor was fruitless ; the 
Jnion was about to be dissolved, and they were filled with 
aduess and gloom. This was especially the case with Mr. 
^allandigham. He was a man of deep feeling, of intense 
sarncstness, and could not but be* powerfully moved by the dis- 
urbed and threatening condition of the country. The Southern 
nen too were deeply aiFected. They had made up their minds 
o depart, but they looked upon it as a constrained departure, 
rhey had loved the Union — a Union formed by the wisdom 
md cemented by the blood of their fathers, who in the council- 
;hamber and the field had, with their brethren of the North, 
liligently labored amid trials and discouragements till this 
nir fabric of government stood in strength and beauty before 
;hcm. How could they look with indifference upon its disso- 
lution ? 

On the other hand, the Republicans Averc comparatively 
}alm and cheerful. They had elected their President, and they 
^vould, before long, accomplish the great object of their desire, 
the abolition of Slavery. They did not believe that there 
was any danger of a dissolution of the Union ; and even if 
it should take place, better that than the perpetuation of 
Slavery. This was the feeling of a large proportion of the 
Republican party. No Union with slaveholders was their cry, 
and the removal of Slavery or a dissolution of the Union was 
what they desired, and would have ultimately demanded — 
imperatively demanded. 

Mr. Vallandigham now felt sure that a secession of several 



144 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

of the States -would take place, and though not without fear 
that the dissolution might be jierpetual, he still hoped for res- 
toration. That he indulged very gloomy apprehensions in re- 
ference to the future of the country is manifest from a letter to 
his wife, dated — 

"Washington City, Dec. 3, 1860. 

" I have just witnessed the assembling of the last Congress 
of the United States at its last session. It was a solemn scene, 
though not appreciated as it will be viewed by posterity. Most 
of the Republicans looked upon it as the beasts look upon the 
starry heavens — ' with brute unconscious gaze.^ All Southern 
men and the Democrats from the Free States sat with hearts 
full, of gloom. The South Carolina members — almost out of 
the Union, and here now for a few days, to part forever it may 
be — seemed full of sorrow, yet accepting their destiny as one 
who leaves his father's house never to return. At twelve 
o'clock the gavel of the Speaker silenced every hum and a 
stifling silence followed, during Avhich the Chaplain, Mr. Stock- 
ton, with hair all wiiite, made a solemn and impressive prayer; 
then followed the calling of the roll and the swearing in of a 
few new members. In the midst of all the solemnity of the 

occasion, moved to take up the Homestead Bill ! 

Poor fellow ! ' h-e knew no better. But the House preferred 
to adjourn, after quietly going through the farce of drawing for 
seats. 

"And thus has ended the 3d day of December, 1860 ! It 
has passed into history as did the melancholy sixth of Novem- 
ber — dies irae — the antithesis of the 4th of July — a day of 
tribulation and anguish — the saddest day I ever passed. They 
who some centuries hence shall read the history of these times, 
will be amazed at the folly and blindness of us who live and 
act now ; but they will be as blind and as foolish in the things 
of their own day and generation. 

" When the secession has taken place, I shall do all in my 
power first to restore the Union, if it be possible ; and failing 
in that, then to mitigate the evils of disruj^tion. 

" Well in body, but with a mind oppressed with the magni- 
tude of impending eventS; full of evil through all coming time, 
I am," &c. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 145 

Oil tlic 4th of December, a member from Virginia moved 
that a committee of thirty-three, one from each State, be ap- 
pointed to consider and report upon the perilous condition of 
the country. INIr. Vallandigham voted for tlie motion, be- 
3ause, as he remarked, it was an expedient, and though totally 
inadequate, he was willing to support any and every expedient, 
trusting that something might be yet done to avert the im- 
pending dangers. Mr. Hawkins, of Florida, being named one 
3f the committee, moved to be excused. A debate followed, 
md Mr, Vallandigham spoke briefly but earnestly in protest 
igainst the composition of the committee, criticising it also 
IS too numerous, and therefore discordant and slow, and 
isking what kind of conciliation and compromise that was 
ivhich began by forcing a member to serve upon a committee 
raised "for the very purpose of peace ? He spoke also earnestly 
n defence of the Northwest. The following are extracts : — 

" But I repeat. Sir, there is not upon your committee one 
solitary llcprescntative east of the liocky Mountains, of that 
nighty host, numbering one million six hundred thousand 
nen, \\\\\v\\ for so many years has stood as a vast breakwater 
Igainst the winds and waves of sectionalism, and upon whose 
constituent elements at least this country must still so much 
icpend in the great events which are thronging thick upon us, 
br all hope of preservation now or of restoration hereafter. 
5ir, is any man here insane enough to imagine for a moment 
;hat this great Northern and Western Democracy, constitutino- 
m essential part, and by far the most numerous part, of t^iat 
^reat Democratic party which for a half a century moukled the 
)olicy and controlled the destinies of this Republic; that party 
vhieii gave to the country some of the brightest jewels of 
vhich slio boasts ; that party Avhich placed upon your statute- 
)ooks every important measure of enduring legislation from 
he beginning of the Government to this day — that such a 
section of such a party is to be thas utterly ignored, insulted, 

10 



146 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

and tliriist aside as of no value ? I tell you, you mistake the 
character of the men you have to deal with. We are in a 
minority indeed, to-day, at the ballot-box ; and we bow quietly 
now to the popular will thus expressed. We are defeated, but 
not conquered ; and he is a fool in the wisdom of this world 
who thinks that in the midst of the stirring and revolutionary 
times which are U25on us, these sixteen hundred thousand men, 
born free and now the equals of their brethren — men whose 
every pulse throbs with the spirit of liberty — will tamely 
submit to be degraded to inferiority and reduced to political 
servitude. Never, never while there is but one man left to 
strike a blow at the oppressor. 

" Sir, we love this Union ; and more than that^ we obey the 
Constitution. W6 are here a gallant little band of less than 
thirty men, but representing more than a million and a half of 
freemen. We are here to maintain the Constitution, which 
makes the Union, and to exact and yield that equality of rights 
which makes the Constitution worth maintaining. We are 
ready to do all and to suiFer all in the cause of our — thank 
God! — yet common country; and by no vote or speech or act 
of ours, here or elsewhere, shall anything be done to defile, or 
impair, or to overthrow this the grandest temple of human 
liberty ever erected in any age. But we demand to worship at 
the very foot of the altar ; and not, as servants or inferiors, in 
the outer courts of the edifice. 

" Sir, we of the Northwest have a deeper interest in the pre- 
servation of this Government in its jyresent form than emy other 
section of the Union. Hemmed in, isolated, cut off from the 
seaboard upon every side; a thousand miles and more from 
the mouth of the Mississippi, the free navigation of which under 
the law .of nations we demand, and will have at every cost ; 
with nothing else but our great inland seas, the lakes — and 
their outlet, too, through a ibrcign country — what is to be our 
destiny ? Sir, we have fifteen hundred miles of southern fron- 
tier, and but a little narrow strip of eighty miles or less from 
Virginia to Lake Erie bounding us upon the east. Ohio is the 
isthmus that connects the South with the British Possessions, 
and the East with the West. The Rocky ]\Iountains separate 
us from the Pacific. Where is to be our outlet ? What are ive 
to do when you shall have broken up and destroyed this Gov- 
ernment? We are seven States now, with fourteen Senators 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 147 

and fifty-one Representatives, and a population of nine millions. 
We have an empire equal in area to the third of all Europe, 
and ice do not mean to be a dependency or province either of the 
East or of the South ; nor yet an interior or second-rate power 
upon this continent ; and if we cannot secure a maritime bound- 
ary upon other terms, we will cleave our way to the sea-coast 
Avith the sword. A nation of warriors we may be; a tribe of 
shepherds never." 

He closed with a solemn warning that the time was short 
and the danger imminent, and that standing in the forum of 
histor}", acting in the eye of jiosterity, all duties should be dis- 
charged instantly and aright, if we would be — 

" Medicined to tliat sweet sleep 
Wliicli yesterday we owed." 

The House reflised to excuse Mr. Hawkins ; but he did not 
serve. It was in this debate that ]Mr. Sickles repeated sub- 
stantially ]\Ir. Vallandigham's declaration against supporting a 
civil war, pledging that no man should ever pass through the 
city of New York to coerce a seceded State, and threatening 
that that city Avould assert her OAvn independence. Mr. 
Sickles said : — 

" The country has been fatally deceived, and some of these 
illusions possess us even now. One of them is that this Union 
can be preserved by force. . . . Yet when the call for force 
comes — let it come Avhcnce it may — no man will ever jDass 
the boundaries of the city of New York for the purpose of 
waging war against any State of this Union which, through its 
constituted authorities and sustained by the voice of its people, 
solemnly declares that its rights, its interests, and its honor de- 
mand that it should seek safety in a separate existence. ... I 
simply mean to discharge my duty in endeavoring to contri- 
bute something towards dispelling tlie liallucination that exists 
in many places — yes, Sir, in distinguished places — that the 
Union is to be ])rescrved by armies. Sir, the Union can be 
made per])etual by justice, but it cannot be maintained an in- 
stant by force." 



148 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

Such Avere the sentiments of the Hon. Daniel Sickles, 
uttered on the floor of Congress on the 10th of December, 1860. 
He recanted and became a Major-General : Mr. Yallandighani 
made his declaration good, and was driven into exile. But in 
proud conscientiousness he could exclaim in Congress, after 
two years of desolating and disastrous war, "To-day I bless 
God that not the smell of so much as one drop of its blood is 
upon my garments." 

About the middle of December a large meeting of Senators 
and Representatives from the fourteen Free and Slave States 
on each side of the border was held for mutual consultation as 
to their interests in the Union, and to devise, if possible, some 
plan by which the diiFcrcnces between the two sections might be 
settled. The number present was about seventy-five. Senator 
Crittenden presided, and ISIr. Colfax of Indiana, and Mr, 
Barrett of INIissouri, Avere appointed secretaries. 

A number of propositions were submitted to the meeting. 

Mr. Vallancligham proj)osed the Crittenden resolutions. 
After considerable discussion, the several propositions sub- 
mitted were referred to a committee of fourteen, one from 
each State represented, who were directed to report to a future 
meeting, to be called by them as soon as they should agree 
upon a basis of settlement. 

About this time a number of prominent gentlemen, prin- 
cipally of the Border States, believing that a disruption of the 
Union was inevitable, conceived the idea of a " Central Con- 
federacy," to be composed of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Caro- 
lina, and INIissouri, together with the Northwest. They con- 
sulted Mr. Yallandigham. His reply was that it would make 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 149 

a " noble Eepublic/' but he would favor no scheme of division 
whatever so long as there was any "hope of saving the 
present Union." 

On the 20th of December, Senator Pugh of Ohio spoke 
against coercion in a powerful and eloquent speech ; and at a 
serenade given in his honor on the evening of the 22d, Mr. 
Vallandigham was called out. We give a brief extract from 
his speech :— 

" To-night you are here to endorse the great policy of con- 
ciliation, not force ; peace, not civil war. The desire nearest 
the heart of every patriot in this crisis is the preservation of 
the Union of these States as our fathers made it. [Applause.] 
But the Union can be preserved only by maintaining the Con- 
stitution, and the constitutional rights, and above all, the per- 
fect equality of every State and every section of this confede- 
racy. [Cheers.] That Constitution was made in peace ; it has, 
for now more than seventy years, been preserved by the policy 
of peace at home, and it can alone be maintained for our chil- 
dren, aud their cliildren after them, by that same peace policy. 

" We mean to stand by it. Public sentiment may, indeed, 
at first be against us the tide may run heavily the other way 
for a little while ; but thank God, we all have nerve enough, 
and will enough, and faith enough in the people to know that 
at last it will turn for peace ; and though we may be prostrated 
for a time by the storm, yet upon the gravestone of every pat- 
riot who shall die now in the cause of peace and humanity and 
the country, shall be written ' Rcsurgam ' — I shall rise again. 
And it will be a glorious resurrection. [Loud and continued 
applause.] 

"Fellow-citizens, I am all over and altogether a Union man. 
I would preserve it in all its integrity and worth. But I re- 
peat that this cannot be done by coercion — by the sword." 

Some time in this month ]Mr. Vallandigham visited Rich- 
mond, Virginia, invited to that city for the purpose of deliver- 
ing a lecture before the Young Men's Christian Association. 



150 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

The following notice of his visit and lecture "we take from the 
Richmond Enquirer: — 

" The Hox. C. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio. — This dis- 
tinguished Representative from the State of Ohio, visited Rich- 
mond in comj)liance with an invitation to lecture before the 
YoiT''g Men's Christian Association. The lecture was attended 
by the largest audience that has ever assembled at these lectures 
in Richmond ; a well-deserved compliment to the ability and 
constitutional conservatism that has always characterised the 
public life of Mr. Vallandigham. The President of the As- 
sociation, in introducing Mr. Vallandigham, alluded to him as 
'a patriotic and eloquent son of a Virginia sire,' to which Mr. 
V. responded in substance as follows : — 

" ' Virginians: — I thank the President of your Association 
for his kindly allusion, and I thank you all for the cordial 
manner in which the papers of your capital have spoken of me 
this morning. I am, indeed, the representative in Congress of . 
a State, the dominant party of which has unhappily given but 
too just cause for distrust and alarm to Virginia ; yet that State 
is the first-born daughter of your Commonwealth, and I beg to 
assure you that it is not they among us of Virginia blood who 
have ever sought to wound or to harm their honored mother. 
Here iu your midst I am myself at home, having an inherit- 
ance in this the Ancient Dominion Iw a title of a hundred 
and sixty years' descent, and cherishing towards her still the 
fondest feelings of filial affection, mellowed and subdued now 
to the love which one feels towards the mother of her who 
bore him. " The parted bosom clings to wonted home," and I 
trust the day is far distant when Virginia shall shut her doors 
against her exiled children, or their descendants of her own 
kindred and blood.' 

" The lecture was one of great ability and eloquence, and 
was received by the audience with evident satisfaction. There 
is no man in the Congress of the United Steites who has at all 
times and under all circumstances maintained the rights and 
interests of his own section with such full justice to all the rights 
of the South, as 3Ir. Vallandigham." 

On the 24th of Decemlicr he wrote thus to his wife : — 

" . . . . To-morrow will be Christmas day, and I am home- 



/ 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 151 

sick, and heart-sick too. I see no hope even of peace, much 
less of adjustment of difficulties. Every day proves still more 
clearly that it is the fixed purpose of the Republican party not 
only to refuse all compromise, but to force a civil roar. This 
sad calamity approaches nearer every day, and I see no way to 
avert it here before the 4th of March, though I Aope we in the 
West shall escape it a little while longer. If we can only 
delay hostilities till the public mind shall apprehend the reality 
of the dangers which surround us, and what civil war means, 
we, I am sure, could avert it. Pugh's was a great speech and 
has done much good. Our ranche was serenaded Saturday 
night handsomely, and all passed oiF v/ell. You will see the 

proceedings in the Star You say nothing about coming 

on to Cumberland soon : I think you had better not come now. 
It mau be necessary in March or April for me to find you a 
place of safety somewhere in the mountains. Keep this quiet, 
but prepare your mind for it — though I still hope that it may 
not be necessary. Be brave. I am very well, and we enjoy 
ourselves here in our ranche mightily together, though very 
quietly, in the midst of the storms outside. I have not heard 
of a party, a reception, or a dinner yet ; there is no heart here 
in any one for gayety. « We spend our evenings together at 
homo, in public duties sometimes, sometimes in reviewing and 
commenting upon the ancient and modern classics ; and thus 
with a fine house, good table, and four clever fellows (Charlie 
jMartin is now with us) Ave are as ' happy a family ' as the times 
will admit. The concluding toast at dinner every day is ' to 
our absent wives and children.' But we would gladly spend 
one day a week at least at home. 

"My love to all. Many kisses for Charlie. A happy 
Christmas to you all. 

" jNIost affectionately," &c. 

Mr. Yallandigham's opposition to the war was not factious, 
as many persons supposed ; he sincerely believed that it would 
end in a dissolution of the Union. In January, 1861, though 
greatly troubled and discouraged at the condition of public 
affairs, he cherished a hope that war might be averted. His 
views and feelings on the subject are disclosed in a letter to his 
wife, dated — 



152 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"AVashixgtox City, January 27, 1861. 

^' . . . .1 have counted up the time and find it now about 
five weeks till I expect to be home. In the aggregate of a life- 
time it will pass but too quickly ; but it seems a long time now. 
I dreamed of being at home this morning. I went into my 
room, and just as I opened the door, my dcax little boy M'akened 
and sprang into my arms, exclaiming ' Here's my dear blessed 
papa ! ' and then I went doM'n with you to the breakfast-table ; 
and then the vision grew confused and dim, and I awoke 
as the pilgrim awoke, ' and lo ! it was a dream.' I wish I was 
at home. I am able to do no good here — no man can; so I sit, 
and am obliged to sit, quiet and sorrowful, condemned as one 
who watches over the couch of a loved mother slowly dying 
with consumption, to see my country perish by inches, and 
without the power to save. But one thing we have gained — 
there will be no war now, I think ; peace for the present has 
been secured, and I feel that I, even I, have done a great ser- 
vice to my country. Alone among public men of the Free States 
I took my position early in jSTovember, amidst reproach and per- 
secution ; and even when we met here on the 3d of December, 
no man stood by me except Pendleton and Pugh. We three 
began the battle for ^jmce; and now already Ohio, Indiana and 
Illinois are wdth us through State conventions of the Democratic 
party. Other States will soon follow, and in a little while the 
whole people will demand peace, negotiation and the restoration 
of the Union. Before God I believe that if Pugh and myself had 
not ])laced ourselves in the breach, this country would have been 
in the midst of a civil war to-day. I feel proudly happy at this 
liour that I did something to prevent it. The great fight 
which Pugh and I made in the Ohio caucus on the night of the 
17th of December, 1860, saved us that calamity — at least up 
to this point. God deliver us still in the future as He has in 
the past." 

On the 7th of February, 1861, Mr. Vallandigham intro- 
duced his proposed amendment to the Constitution, providing 
for a division of the States into four sections for the purpose of 
voting in the Senate and the Electoral College, and on the 20th 
of February spoke at length in its support. The following arc 
extracts :— 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 153 

" Born, Sir, upon the soil of the United States, attached to 
my country from earliest boyhood ; loving and reverint^ her, 
with some part at least, of the spirit of Greek and lioniau 
patriotism ; between these two alternatives, with all my mind, 
with all my heart, M'ith all my strength of body and of soul, 
living or dymg, at home or in exile, I am for the Union which 
made it what it is ; and therefore I am also for such terms of 
peace and adjustment as will maintain that Union now and for- 
ever. This, then, is the question which to-day I propose to 
discuss : 

"How shall the Union of these States be restored and 
preserved ? 

" Devoted as I am to the Union, I have yet no eulogies to 
pronounce upon it to-day. It needs none. Its highest eulogy 
is the history of this country for the last seventy years. The 
triumphs of war and the arts of peace, science, civilisation, 
wealth, population, commerce, trade, manufactures, literature, 
education, justice, tranquillity, security to life, to person, to 
pi'operty, material happiness, common defence, national renown, 
all that is im.plicd in the blessings of liberty — these, and 
more, have been its fruits from the beginning to this hour. 
These have enshrined it in the hearts of the people; and, be- 
fore God, I believe they will restore and preserve it. And to- 
day they demand of us, embassadors and representatives, to tell 
them how tliis great work is to be accomplished. . . . 

" I shall vote also for the Crittenden propositions, as an 
ex^jeriment, and only as an experiment, because the}' proceed 
upon the same general idea which marks the Adams amend- 
ment; and whereas, for the sake of peace and the Union, the 
latter would give a new security to slavery in the States, the 
former, for the self-same great and paramount object of Union 
and peace, proposes to give a new security also to slavery in the 
Territories south of the latitude 36? 30'. If the Union is worth 
the price which the gentleman from INIassachusetts volunteers 
to pay to maintain it, is it not richly worth the small addi- 
tional price which the Senator from Kentucky demands as the 
possible condition of preserving it ? Sir, it is the old parable 
of the Roman sibyl; and to-morrow she will return Avith fewer 
volumes, and it may be at a higher price. 

" I shall vote to try the Crittenden propositions, because, 
also, I believe that they arc perha])S the least which Qxen the 



154 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

more moderate of the Slave States would under any circum- 
stances be willing to accept; and because North, South, and 
West the people seem to have taken hold of them and to demand 
them of us, as an experiment at least. I am ready to tr}', also, 
if need be, the propositions of the Border State Committee or of 
the Peace Congress, or any other fair, honorable, and reasonable 
terms of adjustment which may so much as promise even to 
heal our present troubles and to restore the Union of these 
States. Sir, I am ready and willing and anxious to try all 
things and to do all things 'which may become a man,' to 
secure that great object which is nearest to my heart. 

" The question, therefore, is not merely what will keep A"ir- 
ginia in the Union, but also what will bring Georgia back. 
And here let me say that I do not doubt that there is a large 
and powerful Union sentiment still sm^viving in all the States 
which have seceded, South Carolina alone perhaps excepted ; 
and that if the people of those States can be assured that they 
shall have the power to protect themselves by their own action 
icithin the Union, they will gladly return to it, \ery greatly ])re- 
ferring protection witliin to security outside of it. Just now, 
indeed, the fear of danger, and your persistent and obstinate 
refusal to enable them to guard against it, have delivered the 
people of those States over into the hands and under the con- 
trol of the real secessionists and disunionists among them ; but 
give them secmnty and the means of enforcing it ; above all, 
dry up this pestilent fountain of slaverj^ agitation as a political 
clement in both sections, and, my Avord for it, the ties of a com- 
mon ancestr}', a common kindred, and common language ; the 
bonds of a common interest, common danger, and common 
safety ; the recollections of the past, and of associations not yet 
di-ssolved, and the bright hopes of a future to all of us, more 
glorious and resplendent than any other country ever saw ; ay, 
Sir, and visions too of that old flag of the Union, and of the 
music of the Union, and precious memories of the statesmen 
and heroes of the dark days of the Revolution, will fill their 
souls yet again with yearnings and desires intense for the 
glories, the honors, and the material benefits too of that 
Union Avhich then- fathers and our fathers made ; and they will 
return to it, not as the prodigal, but with songs and rejoicing, 
as the Hebrews retiurned from the captivity to the ancient city 
of their kinscs." 



1 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAXDIQHAM. 155 

Keferring to secession, !Mr. V. said : — 

"Sir, the experiment may readily be repeated. It will be 
repeated. And is it not madness and folly, then, to call back, 
by adjustment, the States which have seceded, or to hold back 
the States which are threatening to secede, without providing 
some safeguard against tlie renewal of this most simple and dis- 
astrous experiment ? Can foreign nations have anv confidence 
hereafter in the stability- of a Government which mav so readilv, 
speedily and quietly be dissolved ? Can we have anv con- 
fidence among ourselves ? " 

Quoting Jefferson's saying in 1820 that his only consolation 
in view of disunion was that he would not live to weep over 
it, Mr. V. exclaimed : — 

" Fortunate man ! he did not live to weep over it. To- 
day he sleeps quietly beneath the soil of his own Monticello, 
unconscious that the mighty fabric of Government which he 
helped to rear — a Government whose foundations were laid by 
the hands of so many patriots and sages, and cemented by the 
blood of so many martyrs and heroes — hastens now, day by 
day, to its fall. AVhat recks he, or that other great man, his 
compeer, fortunate in life and opportune alike in death, Avhose 
dust they keep at Quincy, of those dreadful notes of prepara- 
tion in every State for civil strife and fraternal carnage ; or of 
that martial array which already has changed this once peaceful 
capital into a beleaguered city? Fortunate men! they died 
while the Constitution yet survived, while the spirit of frater- 
nal aifection still lived, and the love of true American liberty 
lingered yet in the hearts of their descendants.'' 

In answer to a gross telegraphic misrepresentation of this 
proposition, ]Mr. Y. explained and defended it in a cai-d to the 
Cincinnati En(2uircr, dated February 14, 1861, as follows: — 

" ;My proposition looks soldi/ to the restoration and malnfen- 
ance of the Unio)^ forcrcr, by suggesting a mode of votino; in 
the United States Senate and the Electoral Colleges, bv which 
the causes which have led to our present troubles may in the 



156 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

future be guarded against v:ithont secession and dkunlon; and 
also the agitation of the Slavery question as an element in our 
national politics he forever hereafter arrested. My object — the 
sole motive by which I have been guided from the beginning 
of this most fatal revolution — is to maintain the Uxiox, 
and not destroy it. When all possible hope is gone, and the 
Union irretrievably broken, then, but not till then, I will be 
for a Western Confederacy." 

As has been already intimated, these propositions were grossly 
misrepresented. Mr. Yallandigham had prepared in advance 
an abstract of them for the telegraphic agent of the Associated 
Press at the capital, who transmitted it correctly to the Eastern 
papers ; but at Philadelphia the knavish agent of the Associ- 
ation telegraphed it to the -Western press as a proposition to 
divide the United States into four separate republics. JNIr. 
Vallandigham demanded a correction, but the perversion was 
only repeated in a form still more false. This Avas but the 
beo-inning of that persistent and aggravated misrepresentation 
in every form, by telegraph as well as otherwise, to which for 
years he was subjected. These propositions were amendments 
only to the existing Constitution. They proposed sections 
within the Union ; not distinct nationalities or republics outside 
of it. The preamble itself recites, as the ptirpose of the pro- 
positions, that '' it concerned the peace and stability of the 
Federal Union and Government that a division of the States 
into mere slavcholding and non-slaveholding sections — causing 
hitherto, and from the nature and necessity of the case, in- 
flammatory and disastrous controversies upon the subject of 
Slavery, ending already in present disruption of the Union — 
should be forever hereafter ignored." So far»as any suggestion 
has ever been made respecting a possible future division of the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 157 

American Republic " into four distinct nationalities/' it came 
from the pen of Lieutenant-General Scott, who even went so far 
as to name the probable capitals of three of the nationalities. 

At the time this speech was delivered, the voice of nearly 
the whole country was decidedly for peace. At the opening of 
the session Mr. Vallandigham had found himself almost alone 
against "coercion," but in February the sentiment had greatly 
changed both in Congress and out of it. Immediate danger of 
civil war seemed to have passed by; yet satisfied that all 
hope of present adjustment was at an end, and separation or 
disunion an existing, though as he hoped a temporary fact, he 
spoke chiefly in review of the more remote and hidden but real 
causes which had led to the crisis, and from these sought to 
deduce the true nature of the searching and decisive remedies 
which he believed essential. But in the whirlwind of the 
hour, neither the House nor the country was in a temper to 
hear philosophy, and the speech attracted then 'no part of the 
attention which it has since received. It was appropriately 
entitled in the pamphlet edition published at the time, " The 
Great American Revolution of 1861," — a revolution Avhich he 
pronounced "the grandest and the saddest of modern times." 

On the 27th of February the House proceeded to vote on 
the various compromise propositions before it. Mr. Kellogg, 
of Illinois, had submitted a proposition similar to the Missouri 
Compromise of 1820, but to be embodied in the Constitution. 
It was rejected, yeas 33, nays 158. All the yeas were Demo- 
crats and Constitutional Union men, except Mr. Kellogg him- 
self. Mr. Vallandigham voted for the proposition. 

The question then recurred on the "Crittenden Proposi- 
tions," offered in the House by Mr. Clemens, of Virginia. It 



158 LIFE OF CLEMEjS^T l. vallandigham. 

was these propositions wliicli Mr. Davis and Mr. Toombs both 
declared would be satisfactory to the South and avert secession. 
They were rejected by a vote of yeas 80, nays 113, every 
Democrat and Southern man, except Hindman, of Arkansas, 
voting for them, and every Republican without one single 
exception voting against them. Mr. Vallandigham voted for. 
them. 

Of the eighty who voted for compromise, nineteen were 
afterwards in either the Federal or the Confederate army ; while 
of the one hundred and thirteen who voted against compro- 
mise, only six — one of them being Hindman, who became a 
Confederate General. The other five were in the Federal 
army. Had this compromise been adopted by Congress, seces- 
sion would not have taken place, the civil war -would not 
have occurred. 

Mr. Vallandigham voted not only for the Crittenden Com- 
promise propositions, but for all others which, in his own lan- 
guage, " so much as promised even to heal our troubles and to 
restore the Union of the States." But he voted also steadily, 
in common with nearly the whole body of the Democratic and 
Conservative members, against the Force Bill and all other 
measures of coercion, believing that threats would avail nothing 
to intimidate the seceded States, while justice and fair compro- 
mise would satisfy the vast majority of their people. 

On the 4th of March, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaug- 
urated. His address declared the " Chicago Platform " a law 
unto him ; but for some weeks the peace policy prevailed. 
Fort Sumptcr was to be evacuated. The country acquiesced. 
The Eepublican press pronounced it wise — "a master-stroke 
of policy." He himself said in the inaugural : — "Suppose you 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 159 

go to war, you cannot fight always ; and when after much loss 
on both sides and no gain on either you cease fighting, the iden- 
tical old questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon 
you." 

Mr. Yallandigham returned home in March, trusting that 
peace at least might be for the present maintained. On the 
15th of that month, Mr. Douglass, who during the early part of 
the second session had inclined strongly towards coercion, 
made his memorable speech* the most statesmanlike of his life, 
declaring " War is disunion ; war is final, eternal separation." 
But the necessities, if not the purposes of the Administration 
and of the Republican party, required civil war, and they found 
means to precipitate it. A fleet was sent to reinforce Fort 
Sumpter. South Carolina fired on the fort and compelled its 
surrender. The President issued his proclamation of the 15th 
of April, calling out seventy-five thousand militia, and in a mo- 
ment the whole country was wrapped in the flames of the most 
terrible civil war ever waged in any age or country. 

Mr. Yallandigham did not hesitate for one moment to 
maintain his position. It is scarcely possible to realise the 
howl of denunciation which forthwitli was raised against him, 
or the ridiculous and preposterous reports — among others that 
his house had been destroyed and that he himself had fled — 
which were circulated. He noticed them in the following 
card : — 

"Dayton, Ohio, "Wednesday, April 17. 
"To the Editor of the Enquirer: 

"■ I liuve a word for the Republican press and partisans of 
Cincinnati and other i)laecs abroad, who now daily ialsiiy and 
niisrei)resent me and mutters whicJi concern me here in D.:i3^ton. 



160 LIFE OF CLEAIEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"jNIy position in regard to this civil "war, which the Lincoln 
Administration has inangurated, v/as long since taken, is well 
known, and will be adhered to to the end. Let that be under- 
stood. I have added nothing to it, subtracted notliing from 
it, said nothing about it publicly, since the war began. I know 
Avell that I am right, and that in a little while ^ the sober 
second thought of the people ' will dissipate the present sudden 
and fleeting public madness, and will demand to know ^\ hy 
thirty millions of people are butchering each other in civil war, 
and will arrest it speedily. . . . As to myself: no threats have 
been made to me personally ; none within my hearing ; no vio- 
lence oftered ; no mob anywhere ; none will be, nobody afraid 
of any, and every statement or rumor in regard to me circu- 
lated orally, or published in the Republican press, is basely 
idle and lidse. ^Vnd now let me add, for the benefit of the 
cowardly slanderers of Cincinnati or elsewhere Avho libel me 
daily, that if they have any business with me, I can be found 
every day at any time, either at home, on the north-west corner 
of First and Ludlow, or upon the streets of Dayton. 

" C. L. Yallaxdigham." 

Some days later he -WTote two strictly private letters to a 
gentleman in Cincinnati, who, having been arrested for treason 
upon a judicial warrant a few months afterwards, was tried 
before a United States Commissioner, the sole proof against 
liim being the production of these letters. He was acquitted. 
The letters, very brief, contain not anything of note, except 
that they suggest a fear or apprehension (common to almost all 
men before that time) that war being disunion, nothing re- 
mained but separation. But they do not express desire or wish, 
or anything similar, for disunion. On the contrary, INIr. Val- 
landigliam. distinctly says that "he would watch the first favor- 
able chance to move publicly xbr peace and restoration." 

During the latter part of April and the montlis of May and 
June, as also for many months afterwards, at Wasliington, in 
his journeyings and at home, jNIr. A'allaudigham Avas exposed 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 177 

the way was guilty, by an inquiry into his Abolition-disunion 
record for the past fifteen years, as very well I might. As to 
my motives, he is not the judge, nor is any other member of 
this House. I have appealed to the future, and I calmly 
await its judgment. 

" As to my record here at the extra session, or during the 
present session, it remains, and will remain. I do neither re- 
tract one sentiment that I have uttered, nor would I obliterate 
one vote that I have given. 1 speak of the record as it will 
ajipear hereafter, and indeed stands now, upon the Journals of 
this House and in the Congressional Globe. And there is no 
other record, thank God, and no act, or word, or thought of 
mine, and n'.n'cr has been, from the beginning, in public or in 
private, of which any patriot ought to be ashamed. Sir, it is 
the record as I made it, and as it exists here to-day ; and not 
as a mendacious and shameless press have attempted to make 
it up for me. Let us see who will grow tired of his record 
first. Consistency, firmness, and sanity in the midst of general 
madness — these made up my offence. But ' Time, the avenger,' 
sets all things even ; and I abide his leisure." 

"tDn the loth of January Mr. Vallandigham spoke upon 
the question of public debt and the finances. The following 
is an extract : — 

" Sir, this is immeasurably the most momentous of all the 
questions which are before us ; and whoever fails to meet and 
to grapple with it boldly and to the full extent, is a dis- 
unionist; for bankruptcy is disunion and dissolution in the 
worst form, and will bring the war to an instant end ; not as 
I would have if, by adjustment, fair compromise and a restora- 
tion of .the Union, but by immediate, eternal and ignominious 
separation." 

On the 3d of February he addressed the House on the 
subject of finances and the United States Note or "Legal Ten- 
der " Bill, in a searching and exhaustive argument against a 
forced Government paper currency ; predicting the inevitable 
result — depreciation and final explosion. We make some 
extracts : — 
12 



178 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

'^Sir, I recant nothing, and would expunge nothing from 
the record of the past, so far as I am concerned. But my path 
of duty now, as a Representative, is as clear as the sun at broad 
noon. The ship of State is upon the rocks. I was not the 
helmsman who drove her there; nor had I part or lot in 
directing her course. But now, when the sole question is how 
shall she be rescued ? I will not any longer, or at least just 
now, inquire who has done the mischief. So long as they who 
hold control insisted that she was upon her true course and in 
no danger, but prosperously upon her voyage, though in the 
midst of the storm, I had a right to resist and denounce the 
madness which was driving her headlong to destruction. But 
now that the shij)wreck stands confassed, I recognise, and here 
declare, it to be as much my duty to labor for her preservation 
as it is theirs who stranded her upon the beach. Within her 
sides she bears still all that I have or hope for, now or here- 
after, in this life ; and he is a madman or a traitor Avho Avould 
see her perish without an effort to save. AVhoever shrinks now 
is responsible also for the ruin which shall follow. 

" Here, Sir, is one of the Continental bills of November, 
1776. It bears small resemblance to the delicate paper issues 
xmd exquisite engraving of the present day in the United Statfe. 
It sinacks a little of the poverty of 'Dixie' — as is said. 
Instead of the effigy of Lincoln, it bears on its face a veritable 
l)ut rudely carved woodcut of the wild boar of the forest. It 
was bad money, Sir, but issued in a noble cause. It is redolent 
of liberty ; it smells of habeas corpus, free speech, a free press, 
free ballot, the right of petition, the consent of the governed, 
the right of the people to govern, public indictment, speedy 
public trial by jury, ancl all the great rights of political and 
individual liberty for which martyrs have died and heroes con- 
tended for ages — although I am not quite sure. Sir, that even 
now it is altogether without somewhat of the odor of rebellion 
lingering about it. 

" There is not a member of this House, I take it for granted, 
who does not desire and hope and look for an ultimate, if not 
speedy restoration of the Union of these States, just as our 
fathers made it. If there be one who does not, no matter on 
which side of the House he sits, HE has no business iieee. 
I have differed with the Administration as to the means, 
and differ widely still, but never as to the end ; if re-union, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGIIAM. 179 

the old Z^nion, be indeed the end. emd jpurpose fo7' ichichtheij arc 
contending. But I repeat it, bankruptcy is disunion and dissolu- 
tion in the Avorst form, and would instantly end the war, the 
Government and the Union forever. 

" Finally, Sir, if the Committee and the House shall pro- 
ceed upon the principles of justice and sound political economy 
which have been hitherto observed by every wise Government, 
and above all by this Government from the beginning in the 
maintenance of its credit and good faith, I will lend a ready 
and an earnest support to every measure framed in conformity 
with these principles, and intended and calculated to build up 
and to sustain the public credit and good faith. Otherwise I 
cannot and will not vote to bring down upon the wretched 
people of this once happy and prosperous country, the triple 
ruin of a forced currency, enormous taxation, and a public debt 
never to be extins-uished." 



Just at this time, such and so great had been the flood of 
denunciation and falsehood poured out upon him, that it is safe 
to say that in Congress and out of it he was the most unpopular, 
best abused, most execrated man in America. He Avas himself 
fully conscious of the fact ; and one of the opening paragraphs 
of the speech freely confesses it. " Nor am I to be deterred," 
he said, " from a faithful discharge of my duty by the con- 
sciousness that my voice may not be hearkened to here or in the 
country, because of the continued, persistent but most causeless 
and malignant assaults and misrepresentations to which for 
months past I have been subjected. Sir, I am not here to 
reply to them to-day; neither am I to be driven from the 
line of duty by them. Strike, but hear." He was barely 
listened to in the House ; yet the speech was received very 
favorably among the better class of bankers and financiers in 
New York and Boston. 

On the 19th of February, Mr. Hickman, of Pennsylvania, 



-f- 



180 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

oftered a resolution "instructing the Committee on the Judiciary 
to inquire into the truth of certain charges of disloyalty made in 
the local columns of a Baltimore newspaper against C. L. Yal- 
landigham, of Ohio." The debate that ensued was interesting 
and exciting. We give a full report that all may see the 
extent and magnitude of the charges of disloyalty, as presented 
by one of the shre-v\dest and most cunning of the Abolition 
members. 

The resolution above referred to having been offered, Mr. 
Vallandigham said : — 

" I was juGt waiting for an opportunity to call the attention 
of the Eouse to that statement myself, having received it from 
some unknown source a moment ago. I do not know, of course, 
what the motive just now of the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
may be, nor do I care. My purpose then was just what it 
is now, to give a plain, direct, emphatic contradiction — aflat 
denial to the infomous statement and insinuation contained in 
the newspaper paragraph just read. I never wrote a letter or 
a line upon political subjects, least of all on the question of 
secession, to the Baltimore South, or to any other paper, or to 
any man south of INIason and Dixon's line since this revolt 
began — never ; and I defy the production of it. It is false, 
infamous, scandalous ; and it is beyond endurance, too, that a 
man's reputation shall be at the mercy of every scavenger 
employed to visit the haunts of vice in a great city, a mere 
local editor of an irresponsible newspaper, w^ho may choose to 
parade before the country false and malicious libels like this. 
I avail myself of this opportunity to say that I enter into no 
defence, and shall enter into none, until some letter shall be 
produced here which I have written, or authorised to be written, 
referring to ' bleeding Dixie,' or any suggestion ' how the Yankees 
might be defeated.' If any such are in existence, I pronounce 
them here and now utter and impudent forgeries. I have said 
that I enter upon no defence. I deny that it is the duty or the 
right of any member to rise here and call for investigation 
foui.ded upon statements like this ; and I only regret that I did 
net have the opj^ortunity to denounce this report_before, the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 181 

Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary rose, and in this 
formal manner called the attention of the House to it — him- 
self the accuser and the judge. Sir, I have been for five years 
a member of this House, and I never rose to a personal expla- 
nation but once, and that to correct a report of the proceedino-s 
of the House. I have always considered such mere personal 
explanations and controversies with the press as unbecoming 
the dignity of the House. 

" Nevertheless, I did intend to make this the first exception 
in my congressional career, and to say — and I wish my words 
reported, not only at the desk here officially, but in the gallery — 
that I denounce in advance this foul and inflimous statsment 
that I have been in treasonable, or even suspicious correspon- 
dence with any one in that State — loyal though it is to the 
Union — or in any other State, or have ever uttered one sentiment 
inconsistent with my duty, not only as a member of this House, 
but as a citizen of the United States — one who has taken a 
solemn oath to support the Constitution, and who, thank God, 
has never tainted that oath in thought, or word, or deed. I 
have had the right, and have exercised, and as God liveth and 
my soul liveth, and as He is my judge, I will exercise it still 
in this House and out of it in vindicating the rights of the 
American citizen ; and beyond that I have never gone. My 
sentiments will be found in the records of the House, except ao 
I have made them public otherwise, and they will be found 
nowhere else. There, Sir, is their sole repository. And fore- 
seeing more than a year ago, but especially in the early part of 
December last, the magnitude and true character of the revolu- 
tion or rebellion into which this country was about to be 
plunged, I then resolved not to write, although your own mails 
carried then the letters, nor have I written one solitary syllabic 
orline — asto the Gulf States months even before secession 
began — to any one residing in a seceded State. And yet the 
gentleman avails himself now of this paragraph to give dio-nitv 
aud importance to charges of the falsest and most infamous 
character. Had the letter been produced ; had the charo-e come 
in any tangible or authentic shape; had any editor^of any 
respectable newspaper, even, endorsed the charge as specific 
there might have been some apology ; but the gentleman knows 
well that this, charge 'was placed "in the local columns of an 
irresponsible ncM'spapcr, put_there by some Dcrson who had 



182 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

never seen any such letter, I meet this first specific charge of 
disloyalty, made responsible here — I meet it at the very thres- 
hold, as becomes a man and a Kepresentative — by an emphatic 
but contemptuous denial. This is due to the House ; it is due 
to myself. 

'^Mr. Richardson. — I hope the gentleman from Pennsyl- 
vania will allow me to make a single remark. 

"3Ir. Hickman. — Certainly. 

"3fr: Richardson. — Mr. Speaker, I want to hear nothing 
about disloyalty on this side of the House while there is a class 
of members hero upon the other side of the House who have 
declared that they will vote for no proposition to carry on the 
war unless it is prosecuted in a particular line, and for the abo- 
lition of slavery. They would subvert the Constitution and the 
Government, and I denounce them as traitors, and they ought 
to be brought to trial, condemnation, and execution. ' 

"3L\ Hickman . — Mr. Speaker, the motives which actuated 
me in introducing the resolution in question ouglit not to be 
doubted. The severe charge contained in the article in ques- 
tion is made against the gentleman from Ohio, a member of 
this House. Even a suspicion, a mere suspicion, would justify 
such an investigation as this resolution contemplates. But the 
gentleman from Ohio, as well as other members upon this floor, 
knows that the suspicions which have existed against lim — I 
do not say "s^diether justly or unjustly — have been numerous, 
and in circulation for a long time past. It is the duty of this 
House to purge itself of unworthy members. I do not assert 
whether the gentleman from Ohio occupies properly or im- 
properly his seat upon this floor. By offering this resolution 
1 do not prejudge him. If he were the most intimate friend I 
had on earth, accused as the gentleman from Ohio is in the 
paragraph in question, I should deem it my solemn duty to 
urge the investigation which is here suggested. But, Sir, this 
charge does not com in a very questionable shape. It appears 
as an original article in tne Baltimore Clipper, and is therefore 
presumed to be editorial, or at least under the supervision of 
the editor. It, to all appearances, emanates from a responsible 
source. 

" But, Sir, I suggest further that the suppression of the 
newspaper in question, the Baltimore South, and the seizure of 
its office of publication, was made under the direct authority 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 183 

of the Government, and it is to be presumed that the effects of 
the office are at this time in the custody of tlie Government 
or of the agents of the Government, and, therefore, the informa- 
tion communicated in this paper must have come through tlio 
Government or the agents of the Government. It is respon- 
sible in its origin, as far as we can judge. Now, Sir, I refer 
the gentleman from Ohio, as my ansM^er to the suggestion that 
I was not justified in offering this resolution under the circum- 
stances, to page 69 of the last edition of the Manual. The first 
paragraph of section thirteen, headed * Examination of AVit- 
nesses,' reads as follows : 

" ' Common fame is a good ground for the House to proceed to inquiry, 
and even to accusation.' 

" This, Sir, is more than common fame. I repeat that it is, 
so far as it appears, a direct charge by the editor of a respon- 
sible newspaper. The information comes, we must believe, 
through the Government or the agents of the Government, and 
it is therefore more than common fame. It is good ground at 
least for institutmg an inquiry. 

^' Mr.Yallandigham. — I desire to ask the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania whether he does not know that this is a mere 
local item, and that the author of it does not even pretend to 
have seen the letters. 

"J//-. Hickman . — I do not imderstand what the gentleman 
means by saying that the author of the paragraph has not seen 
them. 

" J/r. VaUandir/ham. — I say he does not profess to have 
oeen them, and I know that he never did, for they never were 
written, do not now exist, and never did exist. 

" 3Ir. Hickman. — Who never saw them ? 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — The author of that paragraph in the 
local columns of this newspaper. 

" Mr. Hickman. — He never saw the letters ? 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — He does not profess even to have 
seen them. 

" Mr. Hickman. — Whether it is a local item or not, it is an 
original article in a responsible newspaper, and is therefore pre- 
sumed to have been inserted under the direct supervision of the 
editor, if not ^^nritten by him. 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — The gentleman from Pennsylvania 



184 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

has alluded to suspicions existing in former times. Kow, I 
desire to know of him whether he ever heard of .any specific 
item on which any such suspicions ever rested — anything other 
than words spoken in this House or made public over my own 
name? 

" 3L\ Hicbnan. — Yes, Sir. 

" 3Ir. VaUandigham. — Well, let us have it. 

" Mr. Hickman. — I have heard a thousand. 

" 3fr. VaUandigham. — Name a single one. 

"Mr. Hickman. — I do not desire to do any injustice to the 
gentleman from Ohio. 

" 3Ir. Vcdlandigham. — I have asked the gentleman, and I 
desire a direct answer to my question, whether he can specify 
one single item ? 

" 3Ir. Hicbnan. — I will reply to it directly. 

" 3Ir. VaUandigham. — Or does the gentleman mean merely 
the newspaper slanders that have been published against me, 
and which I have denounced as false, over and over again, in 
cards and on the floor of this House ? 

" 3Ir. Hickman. — I know nothing about that. Sir. I 
know that suspicions may well exist, and I know they do exist, 
where denials accompany them. 

" 3Ir. VaUandigham. — Yes ; I know that fact in the gentle- 
man's own case. 

" 3Ir. Hickman. — I have no controversy with the gentleman 
from Ohio, nor am I here to defend myself in the course which 
I have taken. Let him defend himself, and allow me to take 
care of myself, as I expect to be able to do. 

" 3Ir. Richardson. — Will the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
allow me — — 

" 3Ir. Hickman. — I will not suffer any interruption except 
by the gentleman from Ohio. He has a right to interrupt me, 
and T am glad he does so, because I do not want to put the 
gentleman from Ohio in any false position any more than I 
would desire to be myself placed in one ; and I will not do it. 
I do say, most distinctly, that suspicions have existed against 
the loyalty of the gentleman from Ohio ; and I would not 
have referred to them at all if I had not been satisfied that he 
liimself knew of the existence of those suspicions as well as I 
did. Indeed, the remarks which preceded my rising on this 
floor indicated the fact more clearly than I myself could in- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 185 

dicatc it by anything that I could say, that he was in posses- 
sion of a knowledge of the existence of those suspicions, for he 
got up to repel them, not merely such as are contained in this 
article in question, but in general terms — general suspicions 
and imputations against his character. That was deemed right 
by him, Sir. I have nothing to say against it. 

" Now, the gentleman asks for specifications. I am called 
upon by him to refresh my memory, and to give an instance. 
I will give him one or two. I may not be able to give more 
at this time. Perhaps, if he were to give me time, I would 
be able to refer him to many more instances. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — Mr. Speaker — 

"il/r. Hickman. — The gentleman must allow me to ansAver 
his question, and then he may interrupt me. I must reply to 
one inquiry at a time. I am now on the witness-stand — 
brought to it by the gentleman from Ohio. I am on cross- 
examination, and he must allow me to answer one question 
before he propounds to me another. Now, Sir, I refer to the 
fact of the Breckenridge meeting in the city of Baltimore, 
where the gentleman from Ohio attended, and which gave rise 
to very many suspicions, allow me to say ; at least, I have 
heard a great many expressed. Allow me again to refer to the 
fact of his attending a certain dinner in Kentucky, which was 
given, I believe, in his honor, or which was, at least, published 
as such in the papers. 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — Allow me, right there 

" Mr. Hickman. — Allow me first 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — That is a specific fact, which I wish 
to answer. 

" Mr. Hickman. — Not this moment. 

"Mr. Vallandigham. — I appeal to the gentleman's honor. 
^ " 3Ir. Hickman. — I will treat the gentleman from Ohio 
fairly. He must receive all my answer before he asks me 
another question. 

"Mr. Vallandigham —rJ^et him oblige me by rcDlyino- to 
me specifically. 

" 3Ir. Hickman. — I am not done with my answer, and I 
refuse to yield the floor until I finish my answer. I am 
entitled to bo treated here properly, as well as the gentleman 
from Ohio. I will extend to him all the courtesy that can 
possibly be demanded by any gentleman. ^ That is niv habit. 



4- 



186 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

I trust. There are many other items. There was the speech 
which the gentleman made at the July session in this House — 
a speech which Avas understood to be one of general accusation 
and crimination against the Government and against the party 
having the conduct of this war. It gave rise to a great many 
suspicions ; and the gentleman from Ohio, with his intelligence, 
ought not to be ignorant of all these facts. Well, Sir, will not 
conversations naturally arise in consequence of these facts? 
And I appeal to every member of this House whether they 
have not heard suspicion upon suspicion against the loyalty of 
the gentleman from Ohio. Is it not a common rumor, Sir, 
that he is suspected ? I allege that it is a common rumor in 
the Northern States, and among the loyal people of the loyal 
States, that the gentleman from Ohio is, at least, open to grave 
suspicion, if not direct imputation. That is my answer. Now 
I will hear the gentleman. 

" Mr. VaUancUgham. — In reply to the specification, and the 
only one which the gentleman has been able to point out, 
relating to a public dinner in Kentucky, allow me to tell him 
that my foot has not pressed the soil of Kentucky since the 
10th day of July, 1852, when, as a member of a committee 
appointed by the Common Council of the city where I reside, I 
followed the remains of that great and noble man, true patriot 
and Union man, Henry Clay, to their last resting-place. I 
have partaken of no dinners there or elsewhere of a political 
character, nor did I ever attend any Breckenridge meeting at 
Baltimore or elsewhere at any time. This is my answer to 
that, the only specification. And yet the gentleman dares at- 
tempt to support that falsehood, which I here denounce as 
such, by allusions to suspicions which have been created and 
set afloat throughout the whole country, not merely against 
me, but against hundreds and thousands of others, in whose 
veins runs blood as patriotic and loyal as ever flowed since the 
world began. I tell the gentleman that, in years past, I have 
heard his loyalty to the Union questioned. I have known of 
things which would have justified me — had I relied on 
authority similar to that to which he has attempted to give dig- 
nity — in introducing similar resolutions to make inquiry into 
his purpose to disrupt this Union by the doctrines which he 
has held and the opinions which he has expressed. And yet 
opinions and sentiments uttered here are ' the head and front 
of my offending.' It has ' this extent : no more.' 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 187 

" And, Sii', I replied, some time ago, to tvm others wliich I 
doubt not the gentleman would have dragged now out of the 
mire and slough into Avhich they had fallen but that they were 
answered when thrust into debate by the gentleman before me 
[Mr. Hutchins] — I refer to the charge that I had once uttered 
the absurd declaration that the soldiery of the North and West 
should pass over my dead body before they should invade the 
Southern States. I denied it then, and will not rejieat the 
denial now. 

" Nor need I refer again to that other charge that I had 
uttered, in debate here or elsewhere, the sentiment that I pre- 
ferred peace to the Union ; I have heretofore met that charge 
with a prompt and emphatic contradiction, and no evidence 
has been found to sustain it. Referring to that and other 
charges and insinuations on the 7tli of January last, I said to 
my colleague : 

" ' As to my record here at the extra session or during the 
present session, it remains and wall remain.' 

"And just here, Sir, in reference to the speech to which the 
gentleman alluded, delivered on this floor in the exercise of my 
constitutional right as a member of this House, on the lOtli 
of July last, I defy him — I hurl the defiance into his teeth — 
to point to one single disloyal sentiment or sentence in it. I 
proceeded to say, further, on the 7th of last month : 

" ^ I do neither retract one sentiment that I have uttered, 
nor would I obliterate a single vote which I have given. I 
speak of the record as it will appear hereafter, and indeed 
stands now upon the Journals of this House and in the Con- 
gressional Globe. And there is no other record, thank God, 
and no act or word or thought of mine, and never has been 
from the beginning, in public or private, of which any patriot 
ought to be ashamed. Sir, it is the record as I made it, and 
as it exists here to-day } and not as a mendacious and shame- 
less press have attempted to make it up for me. Let us see 
who will grow tired of his record first. Consistency, firmness, 
and sanity in the midst of general madness — these made up 
my offence. But " Time, the avenger," sets all things even ; 
and I abide his leisure.' 

" And am I now to be told, that because of a speech made 
upon this floor, under the protection of the Constitution, in the 
exercise and discharge of my solemn right and duty under the 



188 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

oath which I have taken, that I am to-day to be arraigned here, 
and the accusation supported by the addition of mere vague 
rumors and suspicions which have been bruited over and over 
again, as I have said, against not myself only but against 
hundreds and thousands also of other most patriotic and loyal 
men? 

" The gentleman from Pennsylvania makes the charge that 
I attended a certain dinner in the State of Kentucky. Sir, I 
was invited to that State, and have been frequently, by as true 
and loyal men as there are in that State to-day. I accepted no 
invitation, and never went at all. I have already named the 
last and only time when I stood upon the soil of Kentucky. 
But I know of nothing now — whatever there may have been 
in the past — certainly nothing to-day about Kentucky that 
shoukl prevent a loyal and patriotic man from visiting a State 
which has given birth or residence to so many patriots, to so 
many statesmen, and to orators of such renown. 

" Yet that is all the grand aggregate of the charges, except 
this miserable falsehood which some wretched scavenger, prowl- 
ing about the streets and alleys and gutters of the city of Balti- 
more, has seen fit to put forth in the local columns of a contemp- 
tible newspaper ; so that the member from Pennsylvania may 
rise in his place and prefer charges against the loyalty and 
patriotism of a man who has never falt'ered in his devotion to 
the flag of his country — to that flag which . hangs now upon 
the wall over against him ; one who has bowed do^vn and wor- 
shipped this holy emblem of the Constitution and of the old 
Union of these States in his heart's core, ay, in his very heart 
of hearts, from the time he first knew aught to this hour ; and 
who now would give life and all that he has or hopes to be in 
the ]3resent or the future, to see that glorious banner of the 
Union — known and honored once over the whole earth and 
the whole sea — with no stripe erased and not one star blotted 
out, floating forever over the free, united, harmonious old Union 
of every State once a part of it, and a hundred more yet unborn. 
I am that man ; and yet he dares to demand that I shall be 
brought up before the secret tribunal of the Judiciary Commit- 
tee — that committee of which he is Chairman, and thus both 
judge and accuser — to answer to the charge of disloyalty to 
the Union ! 

" Sir, I hurl back the insinuation. Bring forward the spe- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 189 

cific charge ; wait till you have found something — and you 
Avill Avait long — something which I have written, or something 
I ha\'e said, that would indicate anything in my bosom which 
he who loves his country ought not to read or hear. In every 
sentiment that I have ex])ressed, in every vote that I have 
given in my whole public life, outside this House before I was 
a member of it, and since it has been my fortune to sit here, I 
have had but one motive, and that was the real, substantial, 
permanent good of my country. I have differed with the ma- 
jority of the House, differed with the party in power, differed 
with the Administration, as, thank God, I do and have the 
riglit to differ, as to the best means of ]3reserving the Union, 
and of maintaining the Constitution and securing the best in- 
terests of my country; and that is my offence, that the crime 
and the only crime of which I have been guilty. 

" Mi\ Speaker, if in the Thirty-fifth Congress I or some 
other member had seen fit to seize upon the denunciations, 
long-continued, bitter and persistent, against that member 
[JNIr. Hickman] — for he too has suffered, and he too ought 
to have remembered in this the hour of sore persecution that 
he himself has been the victim of slanders and detraction, per- 
adventure — for. Sir, I would do him the justice which he de- 
nies to me — what, I say, if I had risen and made a vile para- 
graph in some paper published in his own town, or elsewhere, 
the subject of inquiry and investigation, and had attempted 
to cast yet further suspicion upon him by reference to language 
uttered here in debate, which he had the right to utter, or by 
charo;es vague and false, and without the shadow of a founda- 
tion except the malignant breath of partisan suspicion and 
slander, what would have been his record in the volumes of 
your reports and the Congressional Globe, going down to his 
children after him ? But, Sir, it is not in the power of the 
gentleman to tarnish the honor of my name, or to blast the 
fair fame and character for loyalty which I have earned, dearly 
earned with labor and patience and faith, from the beginning 
of my ])ublic career. From my boyhood, at all times and in 
every place, I have never looked to anything but the perma- 
nent, solid, and real interests of my country. 

" Beyond this, Mr. vSpeaker, I deem it unnecessary to extend 
what I have to say. I would have said not a word but that 
I know this committee will find nothing, and that they will 



190 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

be obliged therefore to report — a majority of them clieerfully, 
I doubt not — that nothing exists to justify any cliarge or 
suspicion such as the member from Pennsylvania has suggested 
here to-day. I avail myself of the occasion thus forced on me, 
to repel this foul and slanderous assault upon my loyalty, 
promptly, earnestly, indignantly, yes, scornfully, and upon the 
very threshold. Sir, I do not choose to delay week after week 
until your partisan press shall have sounded the alarm, and 
until an organization shall have been effected for the purpose 
of dragooning two-thirds of this House into an outrage upon 
the rights of one of the Representatives of the people Avhich is 
without example except in the worst of times. I meet it and 
hurl it back defiantly here and now. 

■ " Why, Sir, suppose that the course which the member from 
Pennsylvania now proposes had been jjursued in many cases 
which I could name in years jiast ; suppose tliat his had been 
the standard of accusation, and irresponsible newspaper para- 
graphs had been regarded as evidence of disloyalty or want of 
attachment to the Constitution and the Union : what would 
have been the fate of some members of this House, or certain 
Senators at the other end of the Capitol, in years past ? AVhat 
punishment might not have been meted out to the pre- 
decessor [Mr. Giddings] of my colleague on the other side of 
the House [Mr. Hutchings]? How long would he liave 
occuj)ied a seat here ? Where would the Senator from ]\Iassa- 
chusetts [ISIr. Sumner] have been ? , Where the other Senator 
from ISIassachusetts [Mr. Wilson] ? W^here the Senator from 
New Hampshire [Mr. Hale]? AVhere the three Senators, 
Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, and ]\lr. Hale, two of them now^ in the 
Cabinet and the other in the Senate still, who in 1850, twelve 
years ago, on the 11th of February, voted to receive, refer, 
print, and consider a petition praying for the dissolution of the 
Union of these States ? Yet I am to be singled out now by 
these very men, or their minions, for attack ; and they who 
have waited and watched and prayed, day by day, Avith the 
vigilance of the hawk and the scent of the hyena, from the 
l)eginning of this great revolt, that they might catch some 
unguarded remaik, some idle word spoken, something written 
thoughtlessly or carelessly, some secret thought graven yet 
upon the lineaments of my face which they might torture into 
evidence of disloyalty-, seize now upon the foul and infectious 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 191 

gleanings of au anonymous wrctcli who earns a precarious 
subsistence by feeding the local columns of a pestilent news- 
paper, and while it is yet wet from the press, hurry it, reeking 
with falsehood, into this House, and seek to dignify it with an 
importance demanding the consideration of the House and of 
the country. 

" Sir, let the member from Pennsylvania go on. I chal- 
lenge the inquiry, unworthy of notice as the charge is, but I 
scorn the spirit which has provoked it. Let it go on." 

Mr. Hickman then replied briefly, and in the course of his 
remarks said : — 

" As tiie gentleman nas called upon me, 1 will answer 
further. Does he not know of a camp in Kentucky liaving 
been called by his name — that disloyal men there called their 
camp. Camp Vallandigham ? That would not indicate that in 
Kentucky they regarded him as a man loyal to the Federal 
Union. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — Is not there a town, and it may be a 
camp too, in Kentucky by the name of Hickman ? [Laughter.] 

"il/r. Hickman. — Thank God, disloyal men have never 
called one of their camps by my name. There are a great many 
Hickmans in Kentucky, but I have not the pleasure of their 
acquaintance. I have heard of but one Vallandigham. 

"J/r. Vallandigham. — And there arc a great many Val- 
landighams there too." 

INIr. Hickman, after a few Avords further, withdrew his 
resolution, and there the matter ended. 

This resolution, though wholly without notice, gave ]\ir. 
Vallandigham the fit occasion, long waited for, to defend him- 
self from the suspicions and calumnies to which he had so long 
been exposed, and he improved it to the utmost; and with un- 
disturbed self-possession and dignity, but in tones the most 
earnest and indignant, retorted with so much vigor and spirit 
upon his accuser that he Avas glad to escape by withdraAving 
the resolution. The rencontre Avas of very great advantage 



192 LIFE OF CLEME]N'T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to Mr. ■ Yallandigham, and was the first break in the cloud 
which hitherto had rested over him. His aHusion to the flag 
which hung above the Speaker's seat, forced admiration from 
even a hostile House and galleries. As he sat down he heard 
a friend say, "He has not made a mistake nor spoken an ill- 
advised word from the beginning." Friends gathered around 
and congratulated him on his triumph, and in the evening a 
large number called upon him at his residence to renew their 
assurances of regard and esteem, and to express their gratifica- 
tion at the handsome manner in which he had repelled the 
assault that had been made upon him. 

In a letter to his wife next day, Mr. Yallandigham thus 
refers to the matter : — 

" . . . You see by the papers this morning, I presume, that 
Hickman and I had a bout in the House yesterday. You will 
see it in full in the Globe, but cannot realise the scene. ... I 
was never more gratified in my life wdth any result. In an 
instant every Democrat in the House took fire, resenting it as 
an outrage upon himself Corning was much excited, and old 
Governor Crittenden was deeply interested, and was just taking 
the floor for a speech in my behalf when Hickman surrendered 
and withdrew his resolution. I never spoke or bore myself 
better in my life — so all say, and so I believe too — though it 
was a sudden emergency. Many Kcpublicans complimented me, 
and last night all the Democrats of the House, except a few who 
could not get out, called round and spent an hour or so in con- 
gratulation. It was a signal triumph ; but the truth in regard 
to it will not find its way into the newspapers. Yery probably 
it will be all misrepresented. But some day the country will 
understand it, just as all who were present now do. They will 
let me alone by-and-bye." 

On the 21st of April Mr. AVade, of Ohio, attacked him in 
the Senate; on the 24th Mr. Yallandigham replied in the 
House, and the character of the reply was such that an attempt 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 161 

day and night to imminent danger of personal harm or death. 
Even his assassination was publicly invited by men holding 
responsible official positions under the Administration. In his 
own language, " he carried his life in the hollow of his hand." 
His dauntless courage and the fact well known that he always 
went thoroughly armed, no doubt in a measure protected him. 

On the 3d of May the proclamation of the President call- 
ing out volunteers, and increasing the regular army and the 
navy without Act of Congress, was issued. It was a bold and 
most dangerous usurpation, which, if submitted to without re- 
monstrance, could end only in the final subversion of the Con- 
stitution in every part. INIr. Vallandigham immediately issued 
a private circular, addressed to some twenty or more of the 
most prominent Democratic politicians of the State, proposing 
a conference at Chillicothe on the 15th of the month, to concert 
measures to arouse the people to a sense of the danger which 
was so imminent from the bold conspiracy to usurp all power 
into the hands of the Executive, and thus to " rescue the Re- 
public from an impending military despotism." But four 
answers were received ; three favorable, and one adverse to the 
conference. It was not held. 

On the 9th of May, Messrs. Eichard H. Hendrickson, N. 
G. Oglcsby, John McClellan, and others, his constituents, ad- 
dressed him a letter requesting his opinion on certain points 
connected with the war. To this he replied on the 13th. He 
first quoted from the speech of the Hon. Stephen A. Douglass 
in the Senate of the United States, March 15, 1861 : — 

'' Sir, the history of the world does not fail to condemn the 
folly, weakness, and wickedness of that Government ichich drew 
its sword upon its own jjeople when they demanded guarantees for 

11 



162 LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

their right.?. This crj^, that we must have a Government, is 
merely following the example of the besotted Bourbon, who 
never learned anything by misfortune, never forgave an injury, 
never forgot an aifront. Must we demonstrate that we have 
got a Government, and coerce obedience without reference to 
the justice or injustice of the complaints? Sir, whenever ten 
million people proclaim to you, with one unanimous voice, that 
they apprehend their rights, their firesides, and their family 
altars are in danger, it becomes a wise Government to listen to 
the appeal and to remove the apprehension. History docs not 
record an example where any human Government has been strong 
enough to crush ten millions of people into subjection ichcn they 
believed their rights and liberties were imperilled, icithoid first con- 
verting the Government itself into a despotism, and destroying the 
last vestige of freedom.^' 

Having quoted the above and several other paragraphs from 
that speech, he says : — 

"Those were the sentiments of the Democratic party, of the 
Constitutional Union Party, and of a large majority of the Re- 
publican presses and party, only six weeks ago. They were 
mine : I voted them repeatedly along with every Democrat and 
Union man in the House. I have seen nothing to change, 
much to confirm them since ; especially in the secession, within 
the last thirty days, of Virginia, Arkansas, Xorth Carolina, 
and Tennessee, taking with them four millions and a half of 
people, immense wealth, inexhaustible resources, five hundred 
thousand fighting men, and the grave of Washington and of 
Jackson. I shall vote them again. 

" Waiving the question of the doubtful legality of the first 
proclamation of April 15th, calling on the militia for 'three 
months,' under the Act of 1795, I will yet vote to pay them, 
because they had no motive but supposed duty and patriotism 
to move them; and, moreover, they will have rendered almost 
the entire service required of them before Congress shall meet. 
But the audacious usurpation of President Lincoln, for Avhich 
he deserves impeachment, in daring, against the very letter of 
the Constitution, and without a shadow of law, to ' raise and 
support armies,' and to ' provide and maintain a navy,' for 
three or five years, by mere executive proclamation, I will not 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 163 

vote to sustain or ratify — never ! Millions for defence ; not 
a dollar or a man for aggressive and offensive civil war. . . . 
A public debt of hundreds of millions weighing us and our 
posterity down for generations, we cannot escape. Fortunate 
shall we be if we escape with our liberties. Indeed, it is no 
longer so much a question of war with the South as whether we 
ourselves are to have constitutions and a republican form of 
government hereafter in the North and West. 

"In brief: I am ibr the Constitution first, and at all \ 
hazards ; for whatever can now be saved of the Union next ; 
and for peace always as essential to the preserv^ation of either. 
But whatever any one may think of the war, one thing at least 
every lover of liberty ought to demand inexorably : that it shall ^ 
he carried on strictly subject to the Constitution. 

"The peace policy was tried: it arrested secession, and 
promised a restoration of the Union. The policy of war is 
now uj^on trial : in twenty days it has driven four States and 
four millions and a half of people out of the Union and into 
the Confederacy of the South. In a little while longer it will 
drive out, also, two or four more States, and two millions or 
three millions of people. War may, indeed, be the policy of the 
East ; but peace is a necessity to the West. 

"I would have volunteered nothing, gentlemen, at this 
time in regard to this civil war ; but as constituents, you had a 
right to know my opinions and position ; and briefly, but most 
frankly, you have them." 

Such were his sentiments, his conception of the impending 
dangers, and his convictions as to the final issue of the war 
during the first month after the proclamation, and when, amid 
the storm wliich swept over the whole land, scarcely ten men 
in the country dared openly and publicly to confess that they 
were of the same opinion. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE THIRTY -SEVENTH CONGRESS. 

On the 4th of July, 1861, the Thirty-Seventh Congress 
met in first or extraordinary session. The Speaker delivered a 
ferocious and bloodthirsty address, declaring that territorial 
unity must be maintained though the " waters of the INIissis- 
sippi should be crimsoned with human gore, and every foot of 
American soil baptized in fire and blood." This atrocious 
sentiment was received, according to the official report, with 
" vociferous applause upon the floor and in the galleries, which 
lasted for many minutes." Indeed, the entire scene reminded 
one of some of the maddened spectacles exhibited by the 
French National and Constituent Assemblies, rather than the 
sitting of a Congress of sober and rational statesmen. One of 
the first acts of the House was to resolve that nothing not re- 
latins: to the war should be in order. War became a fixed 
fact, and Mr.Vallandigham accepted it as such; and maintain- 
ing only his opinions and consistency of position in regard to 
it, he confined his opposition to the usurpations of power, 
illeo-al acts, and violations of the Constitution by the Executive. 
It was the purpose of the Administration leaders to prevent all 
debate, and there seemed to be a general disposition among the 
members on both sides to acquiesce. But Mr. Vallandigham 
was resolved to be heard. Accordingly, on the 10th of July, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 165 

the House being in Committee of the Whole, the subject under 
consideration the State of the Union, Mr. Vallandigham ob- 
tained the floor, and commenced thus : — 

" 3Ir. Chairman : — In the Constitution of the United 
States, which the other day we swore to support, and by the 
authority of which we are here assembled now, it is written : 

" 'AH legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
Congress of the United States.' 

" It is further written, also, that the Congress to which all 
legislative powers granted are thus committed : 

" 'Shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press.' 

" And it is yet further written, in protection of Senators 
and Representatives in that freedom of debate here without 
which there can be no liberty, that — 

" ' For any speech or debate in either House they shall not 
be questioned in any other place.' 

" Holding up the shield of the Constitution, and standing 
here in the place and with the manhood of a Representative 
of the people, I propose to myself, to-day, the ancient freedom 
of speech used within these walls, though with somewhat 
more, I trust, of decency and discretion than have sometimes 
been exhibited here. Sir, I do not propose to discuss the 
direct question of this civil war in which we are engaged. Its 
present prosecution is a foregone conclusion ; and a wise man 
never wastes his strength on a fruitless enterprise. jMy posi- 
tion shall, at present, for the most part be indicated by my 
votes, and by the resolutions and motions which I may submit. 
But there are many questions incident to the war and to its 
prosecution about which I have somewhat to say now." 

Mr. Vallandigham continued at considerable length in 
exposing and denouncing Executive usurpation in bold and 
eloquent terms. 

No speech was ever delivered in the midst of greater 
personal danger — not even Cicero's oration for Milo, or Cm*- 
ran's defence of Bond. The galleries and lobbies vrere filled 



166 . LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

with an excited soldiery and infuriated partisans, threatening 
assassination. A leading Administration paper in New York 
had two days before declared that if an attempt was made to 
speak for peace, the " aisles of the hall Avould run with blood." 
Arbitrary arrests for opinion and speech had already been com- 
menced. Almost without sympathy upon his own side of the 
House, and with a fierce, insolent, and overwhelming majority 
upon the other, Mr.Vallandigham, calm and una^ved, met every 
peril, and spoke as firmly, solemnly and earnestly as under 
ordinary circumstances. He closed as follows : — 

" I have finished now, Mr. Chairman, what I proposed to 
say at this time upon the message of the President. As to my 
own position in regard to this most unhappy civil wai^, I have 
only to say that I stand to-day just where I stood uj)on the 4tli 
of JNIarch last, where the whole Democratic j^arty, and the 
whole Constitutional Union party, and a vast majority, as I 
believe, of the people of the United States, stood too. I am for 
peace, speedy, immediate, honorable peace, with* all its bless- 
ings. Others may have changed : I have not. I question not 
their motives nor quarrel with their course. It is vain and 
futile for them to question or quarrel with mine. IVIy duty 
shall be discharged, calmly, firmly, quietly, and regardless of 
consequences. The approving voice of a conscience void of 
oifence, and the approving judraient which shall follow 'after 
some time be past,' these, God lielp me, are my trust and my 
support. 

"Sir, I have spoken freely and fearlessly to-day, as became an 
American Representative and an American citizen ; one firmly 
resolved, come what may, not to lose his own constitutional 
liberties, nor to surrender his own constitutional rights in the 
vain effort to impose these rights and liberties ujjon ten mil- 
lions of unwilling people. I have spoken earnestly, too, but 
yet not as one unmindful of the solemnity of the scenes which 
surround us upon every side to-day. Sir, when the Congress 
of the United States assembled here on the 3d of December, 
18 60, just seven months ago, the Senate was composed of sixty- 
six Senators, representing the thirty-three States of the Union, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 167 

and this House of two hundred and thirty-seven members — 
every State being jjresent. It was a grand and solemn spec- 
tacle ; the embassadors of three and thirty sovereignties and of 
thu-ty-one millions of people, the mightiest republic on earth, 
in general Congress assembled. In the Senate, too, and this 
House, were some of the ablest and most distinguished states- 
men of the country : men whose names were familiar to the 
whole country — some of them destined to pass into history. 
The new wings of the Capitol had but just recently been fin- 
ished, in all their gorgeous magnificence ; and, except a hundred 
marines at the navy-yard, not a soldier was within forty miles 
of Washington. 

" Sir, the Congress of the United States meets here again 
to-day ; but how changed the scene ! Instead of thirty-four 
States, twenty -three only, one less than the number forty years 
ago, are here or in the other Aving of the Capitol. Forty -six 
Senators and one hundred and seventy Representatives con- 
stitute the Congress of the now United States. And of these, 
eight Senators and twenty-four Representatives from four 
States only, linger here yet as deputies from that great South 
which from the beginning of the Government contributed so 
much to mould its policy, to build up its greatness, and to con- 
trol its destinies. All the other States of that South are gone. 
Twenty-two Senators and sixty-five Representatives no longer 
answer to their names. The vacant seats are indeed still here, 
and the escutcheons of their respective States look down now 
solemnly and sadly from these vaulted ceilings. But the Vir- 
ginia of Washington and Henry and Madison, of Marshall and 
Jefferson, of Randolph and INIonroe, the birth-j^lace of Clay, the 
mother of States and of Presidents ; the Carolinas of Pinckney 
and Sumter and Marion, of Calhoun and Macon; and Tennessee, 
the home and burial-place of Jackson ; and other States, too, 
once most loyal and true, are no longer here. The voices and 
footsteps of the great dead of the past two ages of the Republic, 
linger still, it may be in echo, along the stately corridors of 
this Capitol, but their descendants from nearly one-half of tb.o 
States of the Republic will meet with us no more within tlicse 
marble halls. But in the parks and lawns, and upon the broad 
avenues of this spacious city, seventy thousand soldiers have 
supplied their places ; and the morning drum-beat from a score 
of encampments within sight of this beleaguered capital, give 



168 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

melancholy warning to the representatives of the States and of 
the people, that amid arms laws are silext. 

" Sir, some years hence, I would fain hope some months 
hence, if I dare, the present generation will demand to know 
the cause of all this ; and some ages hereafter the grand and 
impartial tribunal of history will make solemn and diligent 
inquest of the authors of this terrible revolution." 

A very large number of copies of this speech was circulated 
in various forms, Xortli and South, and it was published also 
in England and on the continent. The peroration has been 
especially admired, but it fell upon hostile or unwilling ears. 
His fit audience was to be gathered in the presence-chamber 
of Time. But comparative freedom of speech, which other- 
wise might have perished, was made secure, at least within the 
halls of Congress. 

At the conclusion of his speech, in reply to a question by 
]\Ir. Holman, of Indiana, in regard to supporting the Govern- 
ment Mr. Yallandigham said he would answer in the words 
of the following resolution, Avhich he had prepared, and pro- 
posed to oifer at a future time : — 

" Resolved, That the Federal Government is the agent of the 
people of the several States composing the Union; that it con- 
sists of three distinct departments — the legislative, the execu- 
tive, and the judicial — each equally a part of the Government, 
and equally entitled to the confidence and support of the States 
J and the people ; and that it is tlie duty of every patriot to 

~^ sustain the several departments of the Government in the 

exercise of all the constitutional powers of each wliich may be 
necessary and proper for the preservation of the Government in 
its principles and in its vigor and integrity, and to stand by 
and defend to the utmost the flag which represents the Govern- 
ment, the Union, and the country." 

On the 7th of July, JSIr. Yallandigham's courage and pres- 
ence of mind were severely tested. He that day visited the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 169 

Ohio camps on the west side of the Potomac, where several 
hundred of his constituents were stationed. Soon after arriv- 
ing upon the grounds, some members of a Cleveland company 
approached and notified him to leave. He refused indignantly : 
a tumult ensued. Several of the officers and a large majority 
of the men soon rallied to his support, and the rioters retired 
to tlieir own limits. He remained an hour or two, and then 
returned to Washington. The following despatch in relation 
to the matter was forwarded to Baltimore and Philadelphia : — 

"Alexand'ria, July 7, 1861. — Mr. Yallandigham, member 
of Congress from Ohio, visited the Ohio regiments to-day. 
AVhilc in the camp of the first regiment, a disposition was 
shown by many to oust him, and, notwithstanding the nerve 
and courage shown by Mr. Vallandigham, it is jn-obable they 
Avould have succeeded but for the protection aifbrdcd him by 
the Dayton companies and a pass from General Scott. He 
finally retired to tlie camp of the second regiment, after declar- 
ing himself as good a Union man as any of them, and express- 
ing his scorn for the mob-spirit shown by his fellow-citizens." 

False reports in regard to this affair were widely circulated 
by the Republican press, but the account given in the above 
despatch is substantially correct, except that it ought to have 
been stated that tb.c disposition to oust Mr. Vallandigham was 
confined to a single company from Cleveland. 

Pending the consideration of the Volunteer Army Bill, on 
the 12th of July, Mr. Vallandigham moved to strike out from 
the section relating to chaplains the words " Christian denom- 
ination," and instead thereof to insert " religious society." He 
said : — 

" I do it, Mr. Chairman, because there is a large body of 
men in this country, and one growing continually, of the 
Hebrew faith, whose rabbis and priests are men of great learn- 



170 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

ing and unquestioned piety, and whose adherents are as good 
citizens and as true patriots as any in the country, but who are 
exchided by this section ; and because also under the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, Congress is forbidden to malvc any 
law respecting the establishment of a State religion. While 
we are in one sense a Christian people, and yet in another sense 
not the most Christian people in the world, this is yet not a 
" Christian Government," nor a government Avhich has any con- 
nection with any one form of religion in preference to any 
other form: I speak, of course, in a political sense alone. 
For these reasons I move the amendment : while confining it 
to religious societies, it Avill leave the appointment oj^en to 
. those at least who are of the Hebrew faith, and who by the 
terms of the bill are unjustly and without constitutional war- 
rant excluded from it." 

The amendment was rejected. 

On the same day Mr. Vallandigham moved the following 
proviso to the same bill, accompanying it with a few remarks. 
It was before any serious battle had been fought between the 
contending parties : — 

" 'Provided further, That before the President shall have 
the right to call out any more volunteers than are already in 
the service, he shall appoint seven commissioners, whose 
mission shall be to accompany the army on its march, to 
receive and consider such propositions, if any, as may at any 
time be submitted from the executive of the so-called Confed- 
erate States, or of any one of them, looking to a suspension of 
hostilities and the return of said States, or any one of them, to 
the Union, and to obedience to the Federal Constitution and 
authority.' 

" Mr. Chairman, I do not rise to debate this question at 
length — the hour for that discussion has not yet come — but 
simply to remind gentlemen on both sides of the House that 
when, four years ago, the obscure and far distant Territory of 
Utah, with little less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, 
and insignificant in power and resources, was in armed rebellion 
against the Government of the United States, the President 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 171 

appointed two commissioners to accompany the army upon a 
like mission of generous forbearance and humanity. 

"J/r. Lovejoy. — I make the point of order that the amend- 
ment is irrelevant. 

'^Tlic Chairman. — The Chairman overrules the point of 
order. 

"Jir. VaUancUffham. — I rise simply to remind the House of 
that significant faet^ and to inquire whether if, in a case like 
that, where the lives and fortunes of a people so few, so insig- 
nificant, and so odious in their manners and their institutions, 
were concerned, this great and powerful Government thought 
it becoming, in a spirit of justice and moderation, to send com- 
missioners to accompany, and indeed to precede, the army on 
its march, for the purpose of receiving propositions of submis- 
sion and of return to obedience to the authority of the Federal 
Government, we ought not now, in this great revolution — this 
great lebellion, if you prefer the word — to exhibit somewhat 
also of the same sj^irit of moderation and forbearance ; and 
while the legislative department is engaged in voting hundreds 
of thousands of men and hundreds of millions of dollars, we 
ought not, bearing the sword in one hand, to go forth with the 
olive branch in the other ? 

" I offer the amendment in good faith, and for the purpose 
of ascertaining whether there be such a disposition in the Plouse. 
For my own part, Sir, while I would not in the heginniiuj have 
given a dollar or a man to commence this war, I am willing—^ 
noiv that we are in the midst of it tvithout any act of ours — to 
vote just as many men and just as much money as may be neces- 
sary to protect and defend the Federcd Government. It would he 
both treason and madness now to disarm the Government in the 
presence of an enemy of two hundred thousand men in the field 
against it. But I will not vote millions of men and money 
blindly, for bills interpreted by the message and in speeches on 
this floor to mean bitter and relentless hostility to and subjuga- 
tion of the South. It is against an aggressive and invasive war- 
fare that I raise my vote and voice. I desire not to be misunder- 
stood. I would suspend hostilities for present negotiation, to 
try the temper of the South — 'the Union men, at least, of the 
South. But as the war is upon us, there must be an army in 
the field; there must be money appropriated to maintain it; 
but I will give no more of men and no more of money than is 



-r 



172 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

necessary to keep that army in the j^osition and ready to strike, 
until it can be ascertained whether there is a Union sentiment 
in the South, and whether there be indeed any real and sober 
and Avell-founded disposition among the people of those States 
to return to the Union and to their obedience to the authority 
of this Government. I trust that this amendment will receive 
that consideration which I believe it justly deserves." 

And yet, incredible as it may seem, this proposition to ap- 
point commissioners solely for the j)urpose of a restoration of 
the Union by the return of the seceded States, received only 
twenty-one votes ! 

On the 19th of July, before the battle of Bull Run, Mr. 
Crittenden asked unanimous consent to offer the following 
resolution : — 

" Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been 
forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, 
now in revolt against the Constitutional Government, and in 
arms around the Capital ; that in this national emergency. Con- 
gress, banishing all feeling of mere passion and resentment, will 
recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this w^ar is not 
waged on their part in any spirit of oppression or for any pur- 
pose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or 
interfering with the rights or established institutions of those 
States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, 
equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired ; and that 
as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to 
cease." 

jNIr. Thaddeus Stevens objected. On the 22d of July, the 
day after the battle of Bull Run, Mr. Crittenden again offered 
it, and this time it was received without objection. A separate 
vote was had upon the first part of the resolution in these 
words : — " That the present deplorable civil war has been forced 
upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States now 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 173 

in revolt against the Constitutional Government, and in arms 
around the Capital." 

Mr. Vallandigham refused to vote/o>- it, upon the ground 
that it did not tell the whole truth and include " the disunion 
Abolitionists of the Northern and Western States." He did not 
vote against it, because It was true in part. It passed, yeas 
121, nays 2 — Burnett, of Kentucky, and Reid, of Missouri. 

The second part of the resolution was then voted upon, and 
passed, yeas 117, nays 2 — Potter, of Wisconsin, and Riddle, of 
Ohio, both Republicans. Mr. Vallandigham voted for it. The 
terrible defeat at Bull Run secured this unanimity. Three days 
before, scarcely a single Republican would have voted for this 
resolution, at least for the latter part of it ; now it passed with 
only two dissenting voices. 

The Military Academy Bill being under consideration, Mr. 
Vallandigham denounced the new-fangled oath of allegiance 
which it i^roposed to require of the cadets. " I am especially 
opposed," he said, "to the unheard-of and execrable oath required 
by one of its sections. There is no inconsistency, not the 
slightest, between the allegiance which every man owes to the 
State in which he lives and that which he bears to the United 
States; they are perfectly reconcilable. Yet it requires the 
renunciation of the allegiance which every cadet owes by birth or 
adoption to his State. It is an oath which ought not to be required 
of any young man of honor, or of any citizen of a free country. 
I denounce it, too, as unconstitutional. All that that instrument 
provides for, is an oath to support it." Here his remarks were 
arrested and declared out of order, whereupon he resumed his 
seat, saying, " Then, Sir, I propose to discuss it in that G-reat 
Hereafter to which I have so often had occasion of late to 
appeal." 



174 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Before the adjournment he introduced a joint resolution pro- 
viding for the calling of a Convention of the States, to adjust 
all controversies in the mode prescribed by the Constitution ; 
but never during the entire Congress was able to secure 
any action upon it. He had taken a most active and vigilant 
part in the proceedings throughout the session ; and although 
"with the sympathy and support of but some eight or ten mem- 
bers, was always upon the alert, and on the day of the adjourn- 
ment was aptly described by a Republican member as "the 
young man standing in the aisle, where he has stood nearly all the 
session — on the frontier." The House adjourned on the 6th 
of August, and the adjournment was followed by one of those 
periodic and spasmodic reigns of terror with Avhich the Adminis- 
tration so often afflicted the country during the war. But Mr. 
Yallaudigham was not molested. In contempt of all threats 
of violence lie addressed several public meetings in his own 
district, during and after the canvass which resulted in over- 
whelming defeat to the Democratic jjarty in every State. 

Congress met in second session on the 2d of December, 
1861, and the House in hot haste endorsed the act of Captain 
Wilkes in seizing Mason and Slidell on board the British 
mail-steamer Trent On the 15th of December, the news of 
the storm of indignation in England was received. Mr. Val- 
landigham determined to expose the shallow but bluster- 
ing and cowardly statesmanship of the Abolition party in 
the House. Accordingly, the next day, remarking that he 
" regretted and would have opposed, had he had the power, and 
prevented the Administration and this House from the folly 
of taking a position in advance upon the Question, but that it 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 175 

was too late now to retreat," offered a resolution pledging the 
House to support the President " in upholding now the honor 
and vindicating the courage of the Government and people of 
the United States against a foreign power." But a great change 
had come over the spirit of the House, and the resolution was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs by a vote of yeas 
109, nays 16; all of the latter Democrats, eight of them from 
Ohio. On the next day the following colloquy occurred : — 

J/r. Colfax. — " I am still in favor of meting out the same 
treatment to them [Mason and Slidell] as Colonel Corcoran 
received." 

3Ir. Vallandlgham. — "These men will be surrendered be- 
fore three months in the face of a tlu-eat. I make that ijre- 
diction here to-day." 

3Ir. Colfax.—'' I disbelieve it." 

Mr. Cox. — "I hope that the jjrediction of my colleague 
will never be fulfilled." 

On the 29th of December, tw^elve days afterwards, they 
were surrendered upon a peremptory demand, and in the face 
of a threat. 

On the 7th of January, 1862, the subject was again brought 
before the House, and in strong terms Mr. "Vallandigham de- 
nounced the surrender of Mason and Slidell under a threat. 
He was assailed, personally, as to his war record, hy John 
Hutchins, of Ohio, the successor of Joshua R. Giddings. The 
following is an extract from his remarks in re])\y : — 

" But I rose. Sir, to allude for a moment to what was said 
some time ago by my colleague from the Ashtabula district 
[Mr. Hutchins.] His remarks were not, at first, even deserv- 
ing of any very special rei)ly ; and after the lapse of half an 



176 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

hour, I shall forbear some things which I might have said had 
the floor been assigned to me at the moment. 

"In answer to his proposition. that a war with England 
must result in a recognition of the Confederate States, and dis- 
ruption permanently of this Union, I have only to say to him, 
as I said the other day to a gentleman from Indiana, that it 
became him, and all others concerned, to have thought of that 
on the first day of the session, when no less than three ceveral 
resolutions, directly or indirectly endorsing the act of Captain 
AYilkes, passed this House without opposition. I did not at 
the time approve of the resolution of thanks submitted by the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Lovejoy], and I looked around 
me in anxious suspense to observe whether tlicre was courage 
or statesmanship enough on the other side of the House to in- 
terpose an objection to it ; but there was none. I oifered 
none. Had I objected, the cry would have again gone forth, 
* Behold the enemy of his country, always against her ! ' I 
had u • responsibility that required me to interfere, and I did 
not. Then was the time, so far as this House was concerned, 
to have paused ; and so far as regards this Administration, it 
was their duty to have acted when Captain AVilkcs first an- 
chored the Sa7i Jacinto at Fortress JNIonroe. The law of the 
case on the 12th of November last was precisely what the law 
was on the 27th of December following. The fiicts were just 
as well known and understood four-aud-twenty hours after the 
arrival of these men upon o.ur coast as they were understood 
and known when the despatch of the Secretary was written 
and the surrender made. Honor would have been saved, and 
a savor of grace imparted by a voluntary discharge at the 
firs\ 

" That is my reply ; and if I am to be charged with the 
desire of giving aid and comfort to the Southern Confederacy 
by maintaining the honor and dignity of my own country 
against a foreign foe, I hurl back the charge defiantly into the 
teeth of all who were concerned, directly or indirectly, openly 
or tacitly, in the resolutions of the first day of this session. It 
is too late now. Sir, to meet me with this mean and beggarly 
insinuation. I have had enough of it outside of this House, 
and will submit to none of it here. 

" Mr. Chairman, I M'ill not imitate the bad manners nor the 
Ijreach of parliamentary decorum of which the member over 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 193 

was made to pass a vote of censure upon liim. The whole 
proceeding in the case, from the official record in the Con- 
gressional Globe, we here give : — 

•' HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
" Thuksdat, Apeil 24th, 1863. 

"ilir. Vallandigham. — Mr. Chairman, I have waited patiently 
for three days for this the earliest occasion presented for a per- 
sonal explanation. 

"In a speech delivered in this city the other day — not in this 
House — certainly not in the Senate? — no such speech could 
have been tolerated in an American Senate — I find the fol- 
lowing: — 

" ' I accuse them [the Democratic party] of a deliberate purpose to assail, 
through the judicial tribunals and through the Senate and House of' 
Representatives of the United States, and everywhere else, and to overawe 
intimidate, and trample under foot, if they can, the men who boldly stand 
forth in defence of their country, now imperilled by this gigantic rebellion. 
I have watched it long. I have seen it in secret. I have seen its move- 
ments ever since that party got together, with a colleague of mine in the 
other House as Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions — a man who 
never had any sympathy with the Republic, but whoi<e every breath is devoted to 
its destruction, just as far as his heart dare xterinit him to go.'' 

" Now, Sir, here in my place in the House, and as a Kepre- 
sentative, I denounce — and I speak it advisedly — the author 
of that speech as a liar, a scoundrel, and a coward. His name 
is Benjamin F. Wade. 

" [After the transaction of some other business, the follow- 
ing proceedings took place : — ] 

" PERSONAL EXPLANATION. 

" Mr. Blake. — Mr. Speaker, a short time since, when my 
colleague [Mr. Vallandigham] got the floor and made some 
desultory remarks 

" Mr. Cb.r.— What is before the House ? 

" The Speaker 'pro tempore. — For what purpose does the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Blake] rise ? 

" Mr. Blake. — For a personal explanation. 

" The Speaher pro tempore. — Is there objection ? 

13 



194 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" 3Ir. VaUandigham. — If it relates to me, I shall, of 
course, have the same privilege extended to me, and with that 
understanding I have no objection. 

" The Sjicaker iiro tempore. — Is there any objection to the 
^j-entleman from Ohio making a personal explanation? 

" Mr. Cox. — I will not object if the same privilege be ex- 
tended to my colleague [Mr. VaUandigham] to make a reply. 
" There Avas no objection. 

" Mr. Blake. — Mr. Speaker, I was not aware, when my col- 
league [Mr. VaUandigham] commenced his remarks, that he 
referred to a member of Congress. I understood him to say 
distinctly that no member of this House had made the remarks 
to which he referred, and that certainly they were not made in 
the Senate, because the Senate would not tolerate such remarks. 
I therefore paid little attention to my colleague till he came to 
the close of his remarks wherein he denounced a Senator from 
Ohio as ' a liar, a scoundrel, and a coward.' Now, I wish to 
call the attention of the House to the fact that my colleague 
perpetrated these remarks on the House under the false pre- 
text that they were not made in reference to a member of Con- 
gress. 

" Mr. VaUandigham.— 1 call the gentleman to order. 
" The Speaker pro tempore. — On what ground does the gen- 
tleman call his colleague to order ? 

' Mr. VaUandigham.— BecsLMse he states that I uttered that 
sentence under a false pretext. I will take down the gentle- 
man's words. 

" 3Ir. Blake. — I desire to change that a little. If my col- 
league wishes me to be more explicit, I will utter something 
which my colleague may take down. I say, then, Mr. Speaker, 
that my colleague uttered the remarks which he made in refer- 
ence to the Senator from Ohio under the false declaration that 
they were not to be made in reference to any member of Con- 
gress. 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — I call the member from Ohio to or- 
der, on the ground that his remarks are of personal application 
to me, and I call for the decision of the Chair on that point, _ 

" The Speaker pro tempore.— T\\q gentleman on the left will 
proceed in order. 

" Mr. Blake. — I sought the floor immediately after the gen- 
tleman dropped into his seat for the purpose of calling him to 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM 195 

order, and for the purpose of having the "words uttered by him 
in reference to the Senator from Ohio taken down. I have 
since constantly sought the floor, but this is the first opportu- 
nity I have had to call the attention of the House to the mat- 
ter. In doing so now, I ask that the remarks of the gentle- 
man from Ohio, my colleague, may be taken do"\A^i in order 
that the House may take subsequent action thereupon. I de- 
sire, however, first to say to him and to the House that his 
character and the character of the Senator to whom he has 
referred are well known, and I do not rise here to repel any 
charge of liar, any charge of scoundrel, or any charge of cow- 
ard, coming from the source from which these charges now 
proceed. The Senator from Ohio is too well known in my 
own State and in the United States, and my colleague is too 
well known, to make it necessary to answer any declaration 
coming from my colleague. I repeat, they are both known to 
the people of that State, they are both known to the people of 
the United States, and I am willing to let them stand upon their 
own record for their own defence. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — I am known. Sir, in the State of 
Ohio, having somewhat the advantage of my colleague in that 
respect. I am known to the people of my own city also, and 
I take occasion to say that on the 7th of the present month the 
issue was there made at the polls whether I should be endorsed 
as a public man and a public servant in my public conduct 
here and elsewhere, and the verdict of the people of that city 
upon that direct issue was returned in my favor in the persons 
of my friends, by a majority of one hundred and forty-eight, 
being a change since last October of six hundred and forty 
votes. 

"Jij'. Blake. — Was the gentleman a candidate in that 
election? 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — No, Sir, but the issue was made 
directly, and if the gentleman questions it, I propose to read 
the resolution upon which it was made. 

"3Ir. 3Iooreliead. — I rise to a question of order. I cannot 
see that this has anything to do with the matter before the 
House. 

"The Speaker j^ro tempore. — The Chair thinks the gentleman 
from Ohio is in order, and he will proceed. 

"Mr. Vallandigham. — A convention was held in Dayton, 



196 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

where I reside, by the party to which my colleague now belongs, 
a combination or fusion of Republicans, and other elements of a 
mixed character, opposed now to the Democratic party. This 
regularly-called, city convention, in nominating its candidates, 
adopted a platform containing but a single point. It was extra- 
ordinary. Sir, indeed that such a platform should have been made, 
forgetting the high purposes of an election, and containing but 
a single issue, and that merely personal to a fellow-citizen, 
appealing to the people of that city to vote for candidates solely 
on that personal issue. The platform was in these words : 

" 'Eesolved, That we will take the occasion of our ensuing city election 
to make it known to all men that the city of Dayton repudiates Clement 
L. Vallandigham and his organ, the Dayton Empire, and rebukes them for 
tlicir refusal to support the Government in its death-struggle with trea- 
son ; and to the end that this rebuke may be made the more emphatic, we 
call upon all loyal men, without respect to party, to vote for the Union, 
anli -Vallandigham, anii-Emjnre ticket this day nominated.' 

" Sir, that direct issue thus proffered was openly, flatly and 
boldly accepted by my friends, and after a violent contest of 
three weeks, the election resulted in the success of the entire 
Democratic ticket, from Mayor down, upon the sole question, 
by an average majority of some two hundred, against four 
hundred and ninety-two fusion majority at the State election 
last fall. The issue was indeed unworthy even of a municij^al 
election, and it is not fit that it should be named here, except 
in reply to the member from Ohio. That, Sir, is all that I 
have to say in regard to it. 

" The request of my colleague that my words may now be 
taken down, comes quite too late. The rule upon this subject 
is emphatic. And although I am ready to meet here and 
elsewhere any responsibility that may arise from anything I 
have uttered, yet my colleague shall not deprive me of my con- 
stitutional rights as a member of this House. 

"3Ir. Blake. — I should like to know what my colleague 
means by elsewhere. I know of no place to meet these issues 
but here. 

"Mr. Vallandigham.- — Well, Sir, this city is several square 
miles in circumfeience, the District of Columbia is some- 
what larger, the State of Ohio includes a yet more extended 
area of territory, and the United States are very much larger 
still. I believe that covers all that comes under the denomina- 
tion of ' elsewhere/ so far as regards my present purposes. I 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 197 

mean outside of the House. I need say nothing more beyond 
that now. Any explanation or negotiation demanded or pro- 
posed outside of the House will, of course, be responded to 
according to the manner in wdiich it may happen to be pre- 
sented. I neither seek nor shun controversy with any gentle- 
man. Anything done inside must be settled in accordance with 
the Constitutiori, the law^s, and the rules of the House. 

" Now, in the first place, I deny that I have violated any 
rule. I took a paper and read from a printed speech that which 
related to me personally, and which contained a foul and infa- 
mous libel which the utterer knew at the time to be false and 
slanderous. He, the member from Ohio, talks now, indeed, of 
the opprobrium of the epithets 'liar,' 'scoundrel,' and 'coward!' 
Does he not know that the word 'traitor' enters here now cov- 
ered ten times over with the leprosy of reproach ; and am I to 
stand in this Hall unmoved while that epithet is insinuated 
against me, in all its taint and foulness, by a member of the 
Senate, it may be, where I have no chance to meet and hurl it 
back on the spot as it deserves ? Am I to bear it calmly any 
longer, uttered by any responsible person ? I tell you, nay ! 
And when I choose to meet and brand it as a man and as a gen- 
tleman should meet and brand it, am I to be called in question 
here and the first offender go acquit ? Sir, I referred to the 
man, not to the Senator. My manner of allusion was in accor- 
dance with ancient parliamentary usage ; and if the member 
from Ohio had known anything about parliamentary usage, he 
would have known that following the practice of the Irish and 
the British Parliaments, I said nothing for which I could pro- 
perly be called to order in debate. I put a suppositious case, 
and no man can, under parliamentary m-ecedent, object to it. 
That, Sir, is my first answei 

" But I scorn to stand upon that point alone. If what I said 
has been out of order, let the member from Ohio go to the Senate 
first, and there vindicate the violated obligations of parlia- 
mentary decorum. Is it disorderly for a member of this House 
to refer to a member of the Senate and yet exactly in order for a 
Senator to denounce a member of this House, who sits here not 
by your consent — although you have the right to expel him, 
two-thirds concurring, if he has been guilty of a sufficiently 
grave offence — but under the same Constitution and laws, and 
by the equal, nay, better title of the will of the people — is he to 



198 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

be denounced as a ' man who never had any sympathy with this 
Republic, and whose every breath is devoted to its destruction, 
just as far as his heart dare permit him to go ' ? And has the 
member from Ohio no holy indignation against a Senator who 
has thus wantonly, and in violation of all parliamentary law, 
slandered a Representative in this House? Sir, let him go to 
the Senate where those false words were uttered, if they were 
uttered in the Senate, and let him see to it that that body shall 
first vindicate its obligations to the members of this House, 
before he dares to call me to a reckoning for words spoken in 
retort here. How does he know that the words spoken by me 
had reference to a Senator ? But no ; suppose they had, what 
of it ? Was not the retaliation just what he deserved ? Could 
anything less have expiated the offence ? Sir, I spoke of him 
as Benjamin F. Wade, an individual, a citizen of my o^vn 
State, and made no allusion to him as a Senator. He was the 
aggressor ; he provoked the retaliation, and it was deserved. I 
pass by his assault upon the Democratic party. That party 
will take care of itself. 

"But, Sir, independent of all this, if I were out of order, it 
is too late, under the positive and peremj^tory language of your 
rules, to make inquisition into it now. I repeat again, that 
assailed as I have been, persecuted and hounded as I have been 
for twelve months past, not to speak of former years, I have a 
right to throw myself back immovably upon the strictest law 
of parliamentary proceeding, and insist upon every right and 
privilege which the Constitution, the laws and the rules of this 
House give to me. The 6 2d rule of the House is peremptory 
upon this subject. It is in these words : — 

'"If a member be called to order for words spoken in debate, the 
person calling bim to order shall repeat the words excepted to, and they shall 
be taken down in writini) at tlie Clerk' s table . and no member shall be held 
to ansioer, or be subject to the censure of the House, for words spoken in de- 
bate, if any other member has spoken, or other business has intervened, after 
the words spoken, and before exception to them shall have been taken.' 

" There is the rule. Sir, and there is no evading it. It has 
been acted upon in this House on several occasions. The 
question was decided once, when the words were applied to a 
member of the House in his presence, and yet under the rule 
and because the words excepted to were not at once taken down, 
the House did not inflict its censure, as m that case it other- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 199 

wise deservedly might have done. In another case, ]\Ir. 
Sherman, of Ohio, instantly rose and demanded that the ob- 
jectionable words should be taken down, when uttered by Mr, 
Houston of Alabama. They were taken down and censure 
moved, but the motion was finally withdrawn after explana- 
tions, and the case thus disposed of. Such, Sir, is the rule, 
and the practice under it ; and yet my colleague comes no^v 
here and asks that the Constitution shall be violated, which 
authorises and requires this House to establish its rules ; and 
the rules themselves over-ridden. And for what ? To cen- 
sure me for words spoken of one who has basely traduced my 
character as a loyal citizen and Representative, and made a 
charge against me which I choose hereafter to meet only just as 
I have met it to-day. 

" Sir, the accusation which he preferred he knew couici not 
be established. This House had failed even to make inquisi- 
tion into it, because it was without even a decent pretext for 
inquisition. He knew that when a resolution of inquiry 
merely was offered here, it was withdrawn by the mover after 
debate. He knew all that, and yet wantonly and without 
provocation renewed the charge of disloyalty. 

" Sir, the rule declares that the words must be taken down 
at the time. They cannot be reduced to writing after another 
member has spoken, or other business has intervened. No 
censure can be inflicted for words taken down an hour after- 
wards, and not at the Clerk's desk. On that subject 1 am 
perfectly indifferent, and it is with the utmost reluctance that I 
throw myself upon the indulgence of the House to make this 
explanation. The gentleman has made his. I have made 
mine, and am content. Whenever the Senator from Ohio 

" The Speaker pro tempore. — The gentleman is out of order 
in alluding to a member of the Senate. 

" 3fr. Vallandigham. — I could not avoid it after the refer- 
ence to him as Senator by my colleague; but I retract it. 
Whenever Benjamin F. Wade 

" The Speaker pro tempore. — The gentleman is again out of 
order. -^ 

''Mr. Vallandigham. — I have not finished the sentence. 
Whenever Benjamin F. Wade shall take back the false and 
slanderous accusation which he has made against me, I will 
take back the one I have applied to him ; but not before. 



200 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" Mr. Blahe. — I have not desired to do my colleague injus- 
tice. I was amazed to hear the remarks which fell from his 
lips in regard to the Senator from Ohio. I felt, as a Repre- 
sentative from Ohio, that that State had been insulted — 
shamefully insulted — by the remarks Avhich fell from my col- 
league's lips. 

"J/r. Vallandigham. — May I ask a question? 

" Mr. Blake. — Wait until I get through. 

" I have not read the speech to which the gentleman refers. 
My colleague said that that speech was not made here, nor was 
it made in the Senate of the United States, because, as he said, 
such remarks would not be tolerated in that body. I had a 
right to presume that no such remarks as he was about to 
characterise would fall from a Senator's lips. Since I heard 
his remarks, I have obtained the floor as soon as I could, to 
call him to order and have his words taken down. I do not 
desire to do my colleague injustice, but I will say this : I infer 
from the remarks that he has made that the Senator from Ohio 
has characterised him as a traitor. Am I right ? 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — The language of Benjamin F, Wade 
was, that I was a man who had no sympathy with the 
country. 

" The Speaker pro tempore. — Both the gentlemen from Ohio 
are out of order. 

"il/r. Blake. — I desire to say that three-fourths of the 
people of Ohio look upon my colleague in the same light. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — Three-fourths of the people there 
denounce the gentleman as an Abolition disunionist. 

" J/r. Hutch ins obtained the floor. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — I ask the gentleman to yield to me. 

"il/y. Mutchins. — I decline. I rise to a question of privilege, 
and offer for adoption the following resolution; and on its 
adoption I demand the previous question : 

" ' TF7i5reas, lion. C. L-Vallandtghaji, a member of this House, of the 
State of Ohio, in Committee of the Whole, made use of the following lan- 
guage concerning Hon. B F. Wade, a Senator in Congress : 

" ' Mr. Chairman, I have waited patiently for three days for this the 
earliest occasion presented for a personal explanation. In a speech deliv- 
ered in this city — not in this House — certainly not in the Senate — no 
such speech could have been tolerated in an American Senate — I find the 

following: 

****** *-x-* 

" ' Now, Sii-, here in my place in the House and as a Representative, I 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 201 

denounce — and I speak it advisedly — the author of that speech as a liar, 
a scoundrel, and a coward. His name is Benjamin F. Wade. 

" ' And whereas said remarks are a violation of the rules of this House, 
and a breach of its decorum, and deserve the censure of the House; 
Therefore, 

'''Resolved, That C. L. VALLANDianAM, for said violation of the rules 
of the House and its decorum, is deserving of censure, and is hereby- 
censured.' 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — I make the point that the resolution 
is not in order under the following rule : 

" ' 63. If a member be called to order for words spoken in debate, the 
person calling him to order shall repeat the words excepted to, and they 
shall be taken down in writing at the Clerk's table; and no member shall 
be held to answer or be subject to the censure of the House, for words 
spoken in debate, if any other member has spoken, or other business has 
intervened, after the words spoken, and before exception to them shall 
have been taken.' 

" And then, on motion of 3Ir. Sheffield (at five o'clock p. M.), 
the House adjourned. 



Friday, April 25, 1863. 

"The House met at twelve o'clock m. Prayer by the Chap- 
lain, Rev. Thomas H. Stockton. 

" The Journal of yesterday was read and apjirovcd. 

"question of privilege. 

"The Speaker. — The question pending when the House 
adjourned was one of privilege, raised by the gentleman from 
Ohio [Mr. Hutchins] against his colleague [Mr. VaUandig- 
ham.] The following is the resolution submitted to censure 
the gentleman from Ohio for disorderly w^ords sjjoken in debate 
in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union: 

" ' Whereas, Hon. C. L. Vallandigham, a member of the House, of the 
State of Ohio, in Committee of the "Whole, made use of the following 
language concerning Hon. B. F. Wade, a Senator in Congress : 

" ' JSir. Chairman, I have waited patiently for three days for this the 
earliest occasion presented for a personal explanation. In a speech deliv- 
ered in this city — not in this House — certainly not in the Senate — no 
such speech could have been tolerated in an American Senate — I find the 
following: * * ■"• * * * * 

" ' Now, Sir, here in my place in the House — and as a Representative, I 
denounce — and I speak it advisedly — the author of that speech as a liar, 
a scoundrel, and a coward. His name is Benjamin F. Wade. 



202 LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"' And -whereas, said remarks are a violation of the rules of this Hous;, 
and a breach of its decorum, and deserve the censure of the House : 
Therefore, 

'" Besolvecl, That C. L. Vallaudigham, for said violation of the rules 
of the House and its decorum, is deserving of censure, and is hereby 
censured.' 

"On that resolution the question of order is made that 
under the express language of the 6 2d rule of the House the 
gentleman from Ohio could not now be held to answer, or be 
subject to the censure of the House for the words spoken, 
another member having spoken and other business having inter- 
vened before exception to them was taken, and that consequently 
the preamble and the resolution could not be entertained by the 
House. The Chair will have read the 62d rule, and a para- 
graph from the Manual. 

" The Clerk read as follows : — 

"'If a member be called to order for words spoken in debate, the 
person calling him to order shall repeat the words excepted to, and they 
shall be taken down in writing at the Clerk's table: and no member shall 
be held to answer, or be subject to the censure of the House for words 
spoken in debate, if any other member has spoken, or other business lias 
intervened after the words spoken and before exception to them shall 
have been taken. — Sixty-Second Eide. 

" ' Disorderly words spoken in a Committee must be written down as 
in the House, but the Committee can only report them to the House for 
animadversion. — Manual, p. 77.' 

^^The Bpeaher. — The Chair decides, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Hutchins) in his resolution not having complied 
with either the rule of the House or the provision of parlia- 
mentary law, and therefore the point of order is well taken." 

This was the only occasion upon which Mr. Yallandigham 
ever departed from the strictest decorum and propriety of lan- 
guage in the House; but the provocation was extreme, and 
AYade was the first responsible endorser whom he had found 
of the accumulated falsehoods and detraction of a whole year. 

Mr. Yallandigham's friends in Congress and throughout 
the country were greatly pleased with the ability and fearless- 
ness with which he had repelled the assault of Wade, and with 
the tact and skill he had exhibited in escaping the censure 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 203 

which the House was about to inflict unjustly upon him. On 
the other hand, Mr. Wade's friends were greatly incensed and 
seriously meditated personal violence, but kno\Adng the courage 
of INIr. Vallandigham, his vigilance, and the fact tliat he was 
always thoroughly armed, they finally concluded that " discre- 
tion was the better part of valor." 

One other attack only we will notice. In June, Shellabarger 
and Gurley, of Ohio, presented printed petitions from citizens 
of their own districts, none from Mr. Vallandigham's, asking 
for his expulsion from the House as a " traitor and a disgrace 
to the State of Ohio." The petitions were referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, consisting of the following mem- 
bers : John Hickman, chairman ; John A. Bingham, William 
Kellogg, Albert G. Porter, Benjamin F. Thomas, Alexander 
S. Diven, James F. Wilson, George H. Pendleton, and Henry 
May ; all of them Republicans, except May and Pendleton. 
This Committee, on the very same day on which the petitions 
were presented, by a unanimous vote ordered them to be re- 
ported back and laid upon the table ; and accordingly on the 
first day that the Committee was called, July 3, 1862, Mr. 
Bingham reported them back, and on his motion they ivcre laid 
c:i the table, no evidence whatever of either "treason" or "dis- 
grace " having been produced to the Committee. Seven times 
during the session these attacks were made, and as often failed. 
Indeed, he himself stated to a friend that for months he never 
heard an Administration membei address the Chair without 
lookino- up to see if a resolution for his censure or expulsion 
was about to be offered. But he escaped the trying ordeal 
unscathed. It was said afterwards that " he jould not be de- 
tected, because he was too sharp to leave his tracks uncovered." 



204 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDiaHAM. 

" Never make any tracks," said he in reply, " and none will 
ever be found out." During this session, also, his vigilance 
was never for a moment relaxed. Powerless in numbers and 
influence, he had but one weapon — knowledge of the rules of 
the House, and skill in parliamentary law ; and he used it 
with the utmost efficiency. 

The violent public commotion which followed the procla- 
mation of the 15th of April, 1861, the apparent unanimity in 
support of the war, the desertion of many of the old Demo- 
cratic leaders and the fatal timidity of others, together with 
the specious cry of " No Party," had greatly paralysed the 
Democratic organization. Its disastrous defeat that year in 
every State where elections were contested, almost dissolved it. 
Repeated efforts had been made by Mr. Yallandigham and the 
little band with which lie acted to restore the party, but all 
had failed, and two several " caucuses " of the Democratic 
members of Congress had broken up in disorder. The case 
was still more hopeless in December. But he closely watched 
and calmly waited for the opportune moment ; and in March, 
1862, taking advantage of the rapid and bold development 
of the real purposes of the party in power in their various 
schemes for confiscation and emancipation, he drew up a call 
for a conference of the Democratic Senators and Representatives, 
and obtained signatures to the number of thirty-five. The 
meeting was held on the 25th of March, and after a full dis- 
cussion and some altercation, it was resolved that the organiza- 
tion of the party should be jierfectcd, and on motion of Mr. 
Vallandigham ordered that a committee be appointed to jire- 
pare an address to the people of the United States. But pre- 
vious to this a secret and concerted effort was being made by 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 205 

certain Eastern politicians of the Democratic party, in combi- 
nation with others of the old Whig and American jjarties, to 
disband the former, and to consolidate a new conservative orga- 
nization with a new name. They who were in this movement 
managed, upon the pretext that Mr. Vallandigham was too 
unpopular to be on the committee, or indeed to be recognised 
as a member of the party, to postpone, and finally to defeat 
the appointment of the committee ordered by the conference. 
But he, and those who acted with him, Avere not to be thus 
beaten. He prepared an address which, after much delay and 
difficulty, was signed by twelve Democratic Representatives 
from the West (six of them from Ohio), and by two from 
Pennsylvania, and one from New Jersey ; all the other Eastern 
members except one, and four of the Western, refusing peremp- 
torily to sign it. It was issued on the 8tli of May, and three 
days later the new conservative movement culminated in a 
caucus in the hall of the House of Representatives, John J. 
Crittenden presiding. But the address was already before the 
public, and to the Democratic masses it was as the call of the 
trumpet to battle. The following is an extract : — 

" Does the history of the Democratic party prove that it 
ought to be abandoned ? ' By their fruits shall ye know them.' 
Sectional parties do not achieve Union triumphs. For sixty 
years from the inauguration of Jefferson on the 4th of JNIarch, 
1801, the Democratic party, with short intervals, controlled 
the power and the policy of the Federal Government. For 
forty-eight years out of these sixty Democratic men ruled the 
country ; for fifty-four years and eight months the Democratic 
policy prevailed. During this period Louisiana, Florida, 
Texas, New Mexico, and California were successively annexed 
to our territory, with an area more than twice as large as all 
the original thirteen States together. Eight new States were 
admitted under strictly Democratic administrations — one 



206 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

under the administration of Fillmore, From five millions 
the population increased to thirty-one millions. The Revolu- 
tionary debt was extinguished. Two foreign wars were suc- 
cessfully prosecuted, with a moderate outlay and a small army 
and navy, and without the suspension of the habeas corpus; 
without one infraction of the Constitution ; without one usurpa- 
tion of power ; without suppressing a single newspaper ; with- 
out imprisoning a single editor; without limit to the freedom 
of speech in or out of Congress, but in the midst of the 
grossest abuse of both; and without the arrest of a single 
'traitor,' though the Hartford Convention sat during one of 
the wars, and in the other Senators invited the enemy to 
' greet our volunteers with bloody hands, and welcome them to 
hospitable graves.' 

"During all this time wealth increased, business of all 
kinds multiplied, prosperity smiled on every side, taxes were 
low, wages were high, the North and the South furnished a 
market for each other's products at good prices ; public liberty 
was secure, private rights undisturbed ; every man's house was 
liis castle ; the courts were open to all ; no jiassports for travel, 
no secret police, no spies, no informers, no bastiles ; the right 
to assemble peaceably, the right to petition ; freedom of reli- 
gion, freedom of speech, a free ballot, and a free press ; and all 
this time the Constitution maintained and the Union of the 
States preserved. 

" Such were the choice fruits of Democratic principles and 
policy, carried out through the whole period during which the 
Democratic party held the power and administered the Federal 
Government. Such has been the history of that party. It is 
a Union party, for it preserved the Union, by wisdom, peace, 
and compromise, for more than half a century. 

" Then, Democrats, neither the ancient principles, the policy, 
nor the past history of the Democratic party require nor would 
justify its disbandment. . 

" Is there anything in the present crisis which demands it ? 
The more immediate issue is. To maintain the Constitution as 
it is, and to restore the Union as it was. 

" To maintain the Constitution is to respect the rights of 
the States and the liberties of the citizen. It is to adhere 
faithfully to the very princif)les and policy which the Demo- 
cratic party has j)rofessed for more than half a century. Let 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 207 

its history and the results from the beginning prove whether it 
has jjractised them. We appeal proudly to the record." 

Few political documents have ever produced a greater effect 
than this address. Tlie effort to supersede the Democratic 
organization utterly failed. In every State Democratic tickets 
were put in nomination, and the extraordinary and almost 
universal successes of the year followed. About the time of 
the publication of the address, JSIr. Vallandigham visited 
Philadelphia and Xew York for the first time since the com- 
mencement of the war, and was in both cities and along the 
route received with honor by his friends. In the latter he 
was tendered a serenade at the Metropolitan Hotel, but appre- 
hending that the war fever had not yet sufficiently subsided, 
he declined it. 

On the 2d of July Mr. Vallandigham left Washington 
for Columbus, Ohio, to attend the Democratic State Conven- 
tion on the Fourth. It was one of the largest, most enthusi- 
astic and harmonious ever convened in the State. The dele^a- 
tion from Mr. Vallandigham 's district alone numbered five 
hundred and fifty. The largest hall in the city, crowded to its 
utmost capacity, failed to accommodate more than one-fourth 
part of those in attendance. It was, therefore, determined, 
after a partial and temporary organization, to adjourn to the 
State House grounds, in order that the thousands of Demo- 
crats present might be enabled to participate in and Avitness 
the proceedings of the Convention. There Mr. Vallandigham 
addressed the people in a speech wholly extemporaneous, but 
most impassioned, and delivered Avith a voice and gesture ter- 
ribly in earnest. Its effect upon the audience was very great. 
One delegate described his shoulders as bruised and blue for 



r- ^ 



/ 



208 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

several days from the spasmodic working of the fingers of a 

stalwart countryman behind him during the delivery. The 

following are his closing remarks : — 

" Sir, I have misread the signs of the times and the temper 
of the people if there is not already a spirit in the land which 
is about to speak in thunder-tones to those who stretch forth 
still the strong arm of despotic power, ' Thus far shalt thou 
come, and no farther. AVe made you ; you are our servants.' 
That, Sir, was the language which I was taught to apply to 
men in office when I was a youth, or in first manhood and a 
private citizen ; and afterwards when holding office as the gift 
of the people, to hear applied to me, and I bore the title 
proudly. And I asked then, as I ask now, no other or 
better reward than 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' 
[Cries of ' You shall have it ; you deserve it.'] But to-day, 
they who are our servants, creatures made out of nothing by 
the power of the people, whose little brief authority was 
breathed into their nostrils by the people, would now, forsooth, 
become the masters of the people ; while the organs and in- 
struments of the people — the press and public assemblages — • 
-i are to be suppressed ; and the Constitution, with its right of 
?■ ' . petition, and of due process of law and trial by jury, and the 
' laws and all else which makes life worth possessing — are to 
be sacrificed now upon the tyrant's plea that it is necessary to 
save the Government, the Union. Sir, we did save the Union 
for years — yes, we did. We were the 'Union savers' not 
eio-hteen mouths ago. Then there was not an epithet in the 
whole vocabulary of political billingsgate so opprobrious in the 
eyes of a Republican when applied to the Democratic party as 
' Union-shriekers,' or the 'Union-savers.' I remember in my 
own city, on the day of the Presidential election in 1860 — I 
remember it well, for I had that day travelled several hundred 
miles to vote for Stephen A. Dougla.^ for the Presidency — that 
in a ward where the judges of election were all Democrats, 
your patriotic Wide-a- Wakes, strutting in unctuous uniform, 
came up hour after hour thrusting their Lincoln tickets 'twixt 
thumb and finger at the judges, with the taunt and sneer, SS'arc 
the Union; save the Union!' And yet now, forsooth, we are 
' traitors ' and ' secessionists ! ' And old gray-bearded and gray- 
headed men who lived and voted in the times of Jefferson and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 209 

Madison, and Monroe, and Jackson — men who have fought 
and bled upon the battle-field, and who fondly indulged the 
delusion for forty years that they were patriots, wake up sud- 
denly to-day to find themselves ' traitors ! ^ — sneered at, reviled 
and insulted by striplings ' whose fathers they would have dis- 
dained to have set with the dogs of their flock/ Of all these 
things an inquisition searching and terrible will yet be made, 
as sure and as sudden too, it may be, as the day of judgment. 
We of the loyal States — we of the loyal party of the country, 
the Democratic party — we the loyal citizens of the United 
States, the editors of loyal newspapers — we who gather 
together in loyal assemblages, like this, and are addressed by 
truly loyal and Union men as I know you are to-day and at 
this moment [' That's so ; that's the truth I '] — we, forsooth, are 
to be now denied our privileges and rights as Americans and as 
freemen ; we are to be threatened with bayonets at the ballot-box, 
and bayonets to disperse Democratic meetings ! Again I ask, 
why do they not take up their muskets and march to the South, 
and like brave men, meet the embattled hosts of the Confederates 
in open arms, instead of threatening, craven-like, to fight 
unarmed Democrats at home — possibly unarmed, and possibly 
not ? [Laughter and applause, and a remark — ' That was well 
put in.'] If so belligerent, so eager to shed that last drop of 
blood, let them volunteer to reinforce the broken and shattered 
columns of McClellan in front of Richmond, sacrificed as he 
has been by the devilish machinations of Abolitionism, and 
there mingle their blood with the blood of the thousands who 
have already perished on those fatal battle-fields. But no, the 
whistle of the bullet and the song of the shell are not the sort 
of music to fall pleasantly upon the ears of this Home Guard 
Ilepul)lican soldiery 

" With reason, therefore, feljow-citizens, jl congratulate you 
to-day upon the victory which you have achieved. A great, 
poet has said — 

' Peace liath her victories as well as War.' 

To-day the cause of free government has triumphed ; a victory 
of the Constitution, a victory of the Union, has been won, but 
is yet to be made complete by the men who go forth from this 
the first political battle-field of the campaign, bearing upon 
their banners that noble legend, that grand inscription — The 

14 



210 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Constitution as it is, and the Union as it was. [Great 
(cheering.] In that sign shall you conquer. Let it be in- 
scribed upon every ballot, emblazoned upon every banner, 
ilung abroad to every breeze, whispered in the zephyr and 
thundered in the tempest, till its echoes shall rouse the fainting 
spirit of every patriot and freeman in the land. It is the 
creed of the truly loyal Democracy of the United States. In 
behalf of this great cause it is that we are now, if need be, to 
do and to suffer in political warfare whatever may be de- 
manded of freemen who know their rights, and knowing, dare 
maintain them. Is there any one man in all this vast assem- 
blage afraid to meet all the responsibilities which an earnest 
and inexorable discharge of duty may require at his hands in 
the canvass before us ? [' No, no, not one ! '] If but one, let 
him go home and hide his head for very shame. 

' Who ■would be a traitor knave, 
Who could fill a coward.'s grave, 
Who so base as be a slave, 
Let him tuxn and flee.' 

" It is no contest of arms to which you are invited. Your 
fathers, your brothers, your sons are already by thousands and 
hundreds of thousands on the battle-field. To-day their 
bones lie bleaching upon the soil of every Southern State from 
South Carolina to Missouri. It is to another conflict, men of 
Ohio, that you are summoned; but a conflict, nevertheless, 
which will demand of you some portion at least of that same 
determined courage, that same unconquerable will, that same 
inexorable spirit of endurance which make the hero upon the 
military battle-field. I have mistaken the temper of the men 
who are here to-day, I have misread the firm purpose that 
speaks from every eye and beams from every countenance, 
which stiffens every sinew and throbs in every breast — I have 
misread it all if you are not resolved to go home and there 
maintain at all hazards and by every sacrifice, the principles, 
the policy and the organization of that party to which again and 
yet again I declare unto you, this Government and countiy are 
indebted for all that have made them grand, glorious and great. 
[Cheers and great applause.] " 

This speech was received with unbounded applause. In 
fact, liis entire reception at Columbus was one of the proudest 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. ^ 211 

and most gratifying. He arrived in that city on the evening 
of the 3d, and after midnight responded to a serenade ; the next 
day addressed the Convention, and again at night spoke from 
the hotel to an immense assemblage — three speeches within 
twenty hours. 

These evidences of admiration of his character and approval 
of his course were very cheering to Mr. Vallandigham. He 
had been ijcrsecuted as no man in tliis country had ever been 
persecuted. He felt it keenly ; but satisfied that he was right, 
he would not alter liis course. And now there seemed to be a 
change in his favor. The assaults that had been made upon 
him in Congress in the winter and spring he had triumphantly 
repelled — repelled in such a way as to elicit the highest 
admiration of his friends, and to command the respect even 
of his foes. Evidences of the proper appreciation of his char- 
acter and course were multiplying around him. To these he 
refers in a letter to his mother, dated — 

"Washington, D. C, June 14, 1862. 

"... I wish I could get away from here. I am weary, 
very weary of it. It is impossible to tell how soon we will 
adjourn, but I am going home the last of this month. If we 
are to adjourn soon after, I shall not return to Washington 
till November. ... If I do not return to Washington, we 
will come up to Lisbon some time in July. I shall be rejoiced to 
be there again, and to see you, dear mother, again, and all of you. 
I am sure the visit as to outside matters will be more pleasant 
than last summer ; and at home all will be sweet, and the old 
hills, and the woods, and the rocks, and the accustomed walks 
of my boyhood, all, all will be very, very dear to me after all 
I have done and suffered. But my reward is coming — coming 
sooner than I expected. Friends are springing up or speaking 
out everywhere. God has been very good to me in the midst 
of sore persecution, and has delivered me out of the hands of 



212 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

my enemies, and given me the victory over them in every 
assault. But it was so written down in the ' Promises ' many 
ages ago. Whoever will do right, firmly and wisely, will be 
sustained if he endure to the end. I could not in many pages 
give you fully the continual evidences of good feeling and 
praise which I now receive from every quarter, although 
abused daily still too. Only night before last an Ohio military 
band (from Mansfield) marched in from camp seven miles dis- 
tant to serenade me. 

"I am greatly rejoiced to hear of your still improving good 
health. ]\lay you live long enough yet to see peace and the 
beginning of prosperity restored once more to this unhappy 
country. I am still hopeful of the future, even amidst the 
darkness which surrounds us, and the evil and wickedness 
which I see on every side." 

But Mr. Vallandigham had not long to congratulate himself 

on the favorable change. About the last of July the storm of 

persecution burst out again. McClellan had just been defeated 

and hurled back upon the James river, though after a gallant 

and stubborn resistance and a most masterly retreat. Pope's 

short but disastrous campaign began. More troops Avere 

demanded, and the reign of terror was renewed with greater 

violence than ever before. Two clergymen from the "Union" 

Slave States, who had been upon a visit to Mr. Vallandigham, 

were arrested on their way home. It had been the intention 

to arrest them at his house, and to seize him with them. 

Arrangements were made afterwards to arrest him separately, 

and officers came up for that purpose from Cincinnati. Mr. 

Vallandigham's friends rallied to his suj)port, and his house 

and all approaches to it were securely guarded. Regular 

reports of the arrival of all trains were brought to him, and 

ward and watch kept continually till break of day. Not a 

footfall upon the pavement escaped his ear. Such was his vigi- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 213 

lance and that of his friends that at length the intention to 
arrest him was for the present abandoned. 

And now Mr. Vallandigham determined to address the 
people of Dayton, to whom he had not spoken since the war 
began. It was a bold movement, exhibiting the highest 
moral as well as physical courage, since repeated threats had 
been made during the preceding eighteen months that he 
would not be allowed to speak; and, independent of this, the 
deed of assassination might easily be done under cover of dark- 
ness. The meeting was appointed for the evening of the 2d of 
August, and uncertain as to the number who would attend, it 
was announced for a public hall in the city ; but as evening 
approached, an immense concourse of people, numbering 
some eight thousand, assembled. The hall was speedily filled 
to overflowing, but not an eighth part of the audience could 
gain entrance. The meeting was accordingly adjourned to 
the south side of the beautiful stone court-house of the city. 
The following account of the reception of Mr. Vallandigham 
we take ft'om the Empire : — 

" The calls for Mr. Vallandigham brought that gentleman 
to the stand. The instant his form was seen, the cheering 
became absolutely deafening. Almost wild with delight to 
see their brave champion still unscathed among them, after 
the threats of arrest and the countless tales of his flight from 
the myrmidons, not of the law, but of the despot's will, cheer 
after cheer went forth, hats were waved, and vain was the 
eifort of the presiding officer to check its progress. At times it 
seemed almost subdued, but again and again they broke forth 
with increased energy, and it seemed almost as if nature must 
completely exhaust itself ere the wild deliglit with which the 
constituents greeted their representative could be stifled suf- 
ficiently to enable him to acknowledge their greeting save by 
gesture. It was a free heart-offering to bravery and to truth, 



214 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

a spontaneous ovation tendered from the constituents to tlie 
representative, worthy alike of both." 

Mr. Vallandigham addressed the vast and excited multitude 
for nearly three hours, in a speech which was received with 
exalted enthusiasm, and which, when published, called forth 
the highest encomiums. " Elevated in tone, statesman-like in 
conception, full of pathos, and pure in diction," said the editor 
of the Crisis, " it thrills the reader as though fresh from a 
Roman Senate in the hour of Rome's most terrible trials for 
freedom and existence." At the close the people accompanied 
him in triumph to his home. The victory was won, and he 
was secure. 

We would like to make copious extracts from tliis able 
speech, but have room for only a few sentences. 

" I too," said he, '' have sworn to support the Constitution ; 
and more than that, I have done it. I demand that all men, 
from the humblest citizen up to the President, shall be made 
to obey it likewise. In no other way can we have liberty, 
order, security. I was born a freeman. I shall die a freeman. 
It is appointed to all men once to die ; and death never comes 
too soon to one in the discharge of his duty. I have chosen 
my course, have pursued it, have adhered to it to tliis hour, 
and will to the end, regardless of consequences. My opinions 
are immovable ; fire cannot melt them out of me. I scorn 
the mob. I defy arbitrary power. I may be imprisoned for 
opinion's sake : never for crime, never because false to the 
country of my birth, or disloyal to the Constitution which I 
worship. Other patriots, in other ages, have suffered before 
me. I may die for the cause; be it so; but Hhe immortal 
fire shall outlast the humble organ which conveys it, and the 
breath of liberty, like the word of the holy man, will not die 
with the prophet, but survive liim.^ xind, meantime, men of 
Dayton, the opinions which I entertain, the deep convictions 
that control me in that course which, before Almighty God, I 
believe can alone maintain the Constitution and restore the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 215 

Union as our fathers made it, I never, never will yield up. 
Neither height nor depth, neither death nor life, nor princi- 
palities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come — 
no, nor the knife of the assassin, shall move me from my firm 
purpose." 

On the 4th of September, 1862, the Congressional Conven- 
tion of the Third District, now composed of the counties of 
Butler, Montgomery, Preble, and Warren, met at Hamilton, 
and Mr. Vallandigham was nominated by acclamation. In- 
formed of his nomination, and conducted to the stand, he signi- 
fied his acceptance in an address of which the following is a 
portion : — 

" At your demand, therefore, men of the Third District, I 
accept the nomination, and present myself to the people for 
their suffrages, upon no other platform than the Constitution 
AS IT IS AND THE Union AS IT WAS. It is a platform broad 
enough for every patriot. Whoever is for it, I ask his su])port. 
Whoever is against it, I would not have his vote. Every 
faculty of body and mind which I possess shall be exerted 
unremittingly for the great purpose implied in tliis platform." 

Heferring to threats made that in certain localities in the 
District he would not be allowed to speak, he said : — " Let it 
be understood once for all, that wherever in any part of any 
county in the district it is deemed convenient and projjer to 
announce a Democratic meeting, it will be held; and God willing, 
I tcill address it J' He made liis declaration good, canvassing 
every county, and addressing large and enthusiastic meetings 
of the people. But since the election in 1860 a hostile Legis- 
lature had changed the District, adding thereto a county giving 
always an overwhelming Republican majority. The sole 
struggle, therefore, was to carry his original district, and in 
this he succeeded by a largely increased majority 



216 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

The Cincinnati Times, a Republican paper, referring to the 
result in the Third District, the day after the election, said : — 

" ' Vallandigham, though his district, in the new apportion- 
ment, was arranged especially to defeat him, is barely defeated, 
and that is all. In his old district, where a year ago he scarcely 
dared attempt to address a poi)ular assemblage, he has a majority 
of about 700, and is defeated only from the fact that a very 
strong Republican county has been added to the district. These 
facts are given as an illustration of the political revolution that 
has undoubtedly begun in the Northwestern States." 

The Cincinnati Enquirer, the next day, quoting the above, 

said : — 

"The Times is correct in its facts. The Hon. C. L. Val- 
landigham has obtained the greatest personal and political tri- 
umph ever won by any public man in the United States. In 
the face of a storm of abuse, obloquy, slander and denunciation 
from every Abolition print and every Abolition orator from 
Maine to California, which in fury was probably never equalled, 
Mr.Yallandigham has been endorsed by the constituents whom 
he represents in Congress, by a majority of 800 votes, an 
increase of 700 since his last election in 1860. Denounced as 
a traitor, as a secessionist, as an enemy of liis country by the 
fawning parasites of power, by vindictive political partisans 
who have sought to make his name synonymous with treason, 
his life and liberty threatened by those who were ignorant of 
his political record, he has appealed to the people of his district, 
and he has been triumphantly sustained." 

But though nobly sustained by his old district, the change 

that had been made by the addition of Warren county secured 

his defeat ; and this was deeply regretted all over the country. 

The following from the Mount Vernon (Ohio) Banner expresses 

the tone and feeling of the Democratic press throughout the 

Union : — 

" The defeat of the gallant Clement L. Vallandigham in 
the third district is greatly lamented by all good Union-loving 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 217 

Democrats. The Republicans purposely formed a district to 
defeat him, and they have been successful by a small majority. 
But they cannot put Mr. Vallandigham down. Although 
slandered more than any living man, he has come out of the 
' fiery ordeal ' like pure gold. Higher honors yet await him." 

The fall elections in all the States resulted in Democratic 
triumphs. The reign of terror was broken down and free 
speech once more secured. Mr. Vallandigham addressed many 
immense meetings in Ohio and Indiana, continuing his labors 
up to the day of his departure for Washington. He was 
everywhere received with extraordinary honors and enthusiasm. 
Interesting accounts of these meetings published in the papers 
at the time we have in our possession, and would like to pre- 
sent them, but space will not permit. One only we will give 
— a brief notice of the meeting in Mr. Vallandigham's native 
place, New Lisbon. The Patriot, describing the meeting, 
says : — 

" Word had circulated that Vallandigham, the friend of the 
Constitution and the Union, was to speak, and the old men of 
the county who used to listen to his father's preaching, and the 
young men who admired his valor and his patriotism, came in 
by hundreds to get the political gospel from the son. Never 
in New Lisbon did there assemble so many of the sober and 
pious people of the county. Mr. Vallandigham was born and 
raised in New Lisbon, and was well known to the people of 
this county previous to his removal to Dayton. When a 
young man, fully confiding in his ability and integrity, they 
elected him to the Legislature of the State ; and their confi- 
dence in liLS patriotism and statesmanship has been increased 
by every act of liis life. He has been the subject of much 
abuse from the Republicans, but they cannot show one word 
he has ever uttered that was disloyal ; while it would bo very 
easy to establish that, if every man in the North had ^^ursued 
the same course for the last ten years, we would have had no 
"War, no Federal tax, no draft, no stricken people mourning for 



218 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

their dead kindred, victims of battle. Mr. Vallaudigham is 
immensely popular." 

At one of the meetings in Indiana, arrangements were made 
by the Governor and United States Marshal to arrest him on 
his way home at night. His friends urged that under cover 
of darkness he should be taken in a carriage past the point 
where the arrest was to be made; but he answered, " I came 
by the cars, and in that way I mean to return, arrested or not, 
— so help me God." He took the train, and although the 
Marshal and a company of soldiers were at the depot, no 
arrest was attempted. He subsequently addressed a meeting 
near the same place and upon the same road, but was not even 
threatened. 

On the 21st of November, at a handsome entertainment 
given by Judge Morse at his residence near Dayton, an elegant 
o-old-headed cane with a suitable inscription was presented to 
jNIr. Yallandigham by the ladies. Thomas O. Lowe, Esq., 
— now Judge Lowe — of Dayton, on behalf of the ladies made 
the presentation speech, as follows : — 

" 3Ir. Yallandigham: — The ladies of Dayton whom you see 
here this evening, have made it my pleasant duty to present to 
you in their names this cane. You are to receive it, Sir, as a 
testimonial of their personal respect and esteem, and as an evi- 
dence of their admiration of the unflinching fortitude with 
which you have always maintained the principles you have 
believed to be right. And it is also an assurance that while 
many of the daughters of America have been changed by this 
woful war into violent and bloodthirsty beings, in whom we 
now strive in vain to discover any of those merciful and com- 
passionate traits which we have admired in them heretofore, 
and without which the character of every woman is sadly defi- 
cient, there are yet some of them among us who love not vio- 
lence, who shrink from thoughts of bloodshed, who are ap- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 219 

palled as they witness with us all the unfolding of that fearful 
panorama which shows us brothers engaged in deadly strife, 
which is lighted by the lurid flames of hell, and which has for 
its orchestral accompaniment the wails of widows and orjihans. 
There are yet some who from their very natures have depre- 
cated this war, who desired as you did that it should be 
averted, and M'ho now pray that the Ruler of Heaven and 
Earth, who is the Prince of Peace and God of Love, will turn 
the hearts of men from all bitterness and strife, so that blood- 
shed may be known among us no more forever. And if there 
be a prayer which the ' ministering angels ' round about us 
more gladly hear and more quickly bear to the ear of Heaven 
than any other, it must be theirs. The Saviour of men said, 
' Blessed are the peacemakers,' and 

'Gave His life 
To bend man's stubborn will ; 
When elements "were fierce -with strife, 
Said to them, " Peace, be still." ' 

" Although these ladies are not of those who arrogate to 
themselves the right to speak with authority upon those ordi- 
nary political topics whose consideration more rightfully, if not 
exclusively belongs to the sterner sex, they yet desire to-night 
to express to you their belief that if all the men of the North 
and South had but loved this Union as well and had struggled 
as wisely for the best interests of the country as you, this war 
would have beeh averted, and that even now, if the com- 
batants could but be imbued with a patriotism as true as yours, 
this struggle would speedily cease, our Union be restored as it 
was, and everything which has in days gone by made Ameri- 
cans proud of their country, would come back to us again. 

"... And we all think, Sir, that it is not among the least 
of the cervices you have rendered to your country that you 
have shown that there is such a thing as unconquerable devo- 
tion to principle ; that there is one statesman among us who 
is not to ])e moved from his convictions of right by any danger 
or threatenings ; that if one obeys the exhortations of WoLsey, 
and makes his aims ' his country's, his God's, and truth's,' he 
need not fear. Though storms may be raging all around him, 
he will be ^sustained by an unfaltering trust,' and have 'that 
peace which is above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet con- 
science.' 



220 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" Mr. Vallandigham replied as follows : — 

"J//". Lowe: — With a grateful heart I receive this cane from 
the ladies for whom you have just spoken. Valuable in itself, 
it is to me far more valuable because of the kindly motives 
which have induced its presentation, but especially as a testi- 
mony of their approbation of my conduct as a public man in 
the recent and present perilous times of the country. From 
them I accept it as a large recompense for whatever of calumny 
and reproach I have endured for the last eighteen months, 
because of my adherence to principle and a course of public 
policy which in my conscience and judgment I believed essen- 
tial to the restoration of the Union and the best interests of 
my country. Such honors are bestowed commonly upon the 
heroes of military warfare; but if I merit any part of the 
praise which you have so eloquently expressed, it is moral 
heroism which to-night is honored by these ceremonies. It is 
the victories of peace which you here celebrate. Her triumphs 
are indeed grander, and her conquests nobler than any achieved 
by the military hero upon the battle-field. And it is especially 
fitting that these honors should be paid to the cause — though 
I myself may deserve them not — by the women of the country; 
and while I lament that so many among them should have for- 
gotten the softness of their sex and the mild teachings of a 
religion essential indeed to man, but especially congenial to 
woman's nature, yet I rejoice that so many also have laid not 
aside the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, but remembered 
and clung yet the more steadfastly to the gospel of peace and 
love even amid the phrensy of a desolating and demoralising 
civil war. True to woman's mission, they are or will be the 
wives, mothers, daughters and sisters who by precept, example, 
or association shall bring back yet the present, or educate a new 
generation which shall restore peace, the Union and Constitu- 
tional liberty with all their virtues and their blessings once 
more to this bleeding and distracted country. If, indeed. Sir, 
I have exhibited any part of the high qualities of courage, for- 
titude and immovable devotion to the good and the right 
which on behalf of these ladies you have so kindly attributed 
to me, it is to one of their own sex, more than to any other 
human agency, that I am indebted for them — my mother. In 
childhood, in boyhood and in youth, in the midst of many 
trials, from her teachings and by her example, I learned those 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 221 

lessons and formed the character and habits — if it l:»e so — 
which fitted me with courage and endurance and unfaltering 
faith to struggle with the terrible times in the midst of which 
we live. 

" Congratulating the ladies on the selection of yourself as 
their representative upon this occasion, and thanking you cor- 
dially for the many kind things you have been pleased to say, 
I accept this beautiful present with my most grateful acknow- 
ledgments to one and all here assembled." 

At the conclusion of the ceremonies the ladies and gentle- 
men present partook of an elegant supper, worthy of the host 
and accomplished hostess, and of the good old "Butternut" 
hosj)itality of former days. 

The Thirty-Seventh Congress met in third session the first 
of December. From May down to that period scarcely any- 
thing but disaster had befallen the Federal arms. The 
elections had nearly all terminated adversely to the Admin- 
istration. All was alarm, almost terror. Arbitrary arrests 
were suspended ; Forts Warren and La Fayette and other bas- 
tiles gave up their prisoners; and Mr. Seward graciously 
announced in an official despatch the return of the country to 
its " normal condition," when all citizens might freely 
oppose and criticise the measures and conduct of the men in 
power. But one more effort was yet to be essayed against Hich- 
mond. The fortunes of battle were committed to the " weak 
but presumptuous Burnside," who, on the 13th of December, 
for five hours, with frantic recklessness, drove on his columns 
against the Confederate intrenchments, and at nightfall, after 
the loss of fourteen thousand of his best troops, had earned the 
well-deserved cognomen of " the Butcher of Fredericksburg." 
The day before the battle Mr. Vallandigham had arrived in 
Kew York. Affairs were now changed; and accepting a 



222 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

proffered serenade at the New York Hotel, he addressed a very 
large assembly, and there, amid great applause, first uttered 
the word " Peace" in public meeting in that city. 

Returning to AYashington, he found the Administration and 
their friends in Congress casting about for some mode of 
escape from the struggle, with safety to themselves. Nego- 
tiation, armistice, mediation, peace were no longer treasonable 
words. About this time he offered the following series of 
resolutions, as amendatory to certain ones offered the day before 
by Thaddeus Stevens : — 

"Resolved, That the Union as it was must be restored and 
maintained, one and indivisibleforevcr, under the Constitution 
as it is, the fifth arti cle,providing for amendments, included. 

"Resolved, That if any person in the civil or military 
service of the United States shall propose terms of peace, or 
accept or advise the accejitance of any such terms, on any other 
basis than the integrity of the Federal Union, and of the sev- 
eral States comprising the same, and the Territories of the 
Union, as at the beginning of the present civil war, he will be 
guilty of a high crime. 

"Resolved, That this Government can never permit the in- 
tervention of any foreign nation in regard to this present civil 

war. 

"Resolved, That the unhappy civil war in which we are 
engaged was waged in the beginning professedly not in any 
spfrit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjuga- 
tion, or for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the 
rio-hts or the established institutions of the States ; but to de- 
fend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to 
preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights 
of the several States unimpaired, and was so understood and 
accepted by the people, and especially by the army and navy 
of the United States ; and that, therefore, whoever shall per- 
vert, or attempt to pervert, the same to a war of conquest^ and 
subjugation, or for the overthrow or interfering with the rights 
or established institutions of any of the States to abolish slavery 
therein, or for the purpose of destroying or impairing the dig- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 223 

nity, equality or rights of any of the States, will be guilty of a 
flagrant breach of pul)lic faith, and a high crime against the 
Constitution and the Union. 

^^ Resolved, That whoever shall propose by Federal authority 
to extinguish any of the States of the Union, or to declare any 
of them extinguished, and to establish territorial Governments 
witliin the same, will be guilty of a high crime against the 
Constitution and the Union. 

^^ Resolved, That whoever shall affirm that it is competent 
for this House, or any other authority, to establish a dictator- 
ship in the United States, therel)y superseding or suspending 
the Constitutional authorities of the Union, and shall proceed 
to make any movement toward the declaring of a dictatorship, 
shall be guilty of a high crime against the Constitution and the 
Union and public liberty." 

These resolutions were laid on the table by a vote of yeas 
79, all Republicans, to nays 50, all Democrats and Constitu- 
tional Union men. They sufficiently indicate the fears that 
were entertained ])y ]\Ir. Vallandighani and others in reference 
to the terms of settlement that would be proposed, or the meas- 
ures that would be adopted by the Administration, provided 
disaster should still continue to follow the Federal arms. 

The Christmas recess soon after occurred, and members sep- 
arated. Re-assembling in January, 1863, the drawTi battle at 
Murfreesboro', and the costly but total failure before Vicks- 
burg, had been added to the long list of disasters. About this 
time Mr. Vallandigham was approached by letter and personal 
interview, on the part of one of the most eminent and influen- 
tial supporters of the Administration, to ascertain whether some 
means could not be devised to bring about a cessation of hos- 
tilities through foreign mediation, leaving the terms of adjust- 
ment to foreign arbitration. Whatever the design of tliis pro- 
position, the effect and issue were palpable — final peaceable 



^*.H. *■■ 



224 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

separation. Mr. Vallandigham was ready and anxious for any- 
thing that would stop the war, and believing that mediation 
would at that time be " the speediest, easiest, most graceflil mode" 
of effecting his object, lie agreed to support it, but rejected 
"arbitration" as both impracticable and dangerous, insisting that 
"the people of the several States here at home must be the final 
arbitrators of the great quarrel in America, and the j^eople and 
the States of the Northwest the mediators who should stand 
like the prophet betwixt the living and the dead, that the 
plague of disunion might be stayed." 

On the 14th of January, Mr. Vallandigham delivered a 
speech on " The Great Civil AYar in America, " a speech which 
produced perhaps as profound a sensation as any ever delivered 
in the halls of Congress. A correspondent of the Cincinnati 
Gazette, a bitter enemy of Mr. Vallandigham, thus describes 
the scene : — 

"Finally the flow of motions ceases; the Speaker announces 
the resolutions of the gentleman from Pennsylvania under con- 
sideration and the gentleman from Ohio entitled to the floor, 
and Mr. Vallandigham rises, leaves his usual seat on the 
extreme left and moves over to near the centre of the opposition 
benches. 

"There is a little flutter in the hall. This matter may 
require attention ,~ it is Avell enough to lay aside the unfinished 
letters to constituents and drafts of new bills, and listen a little 
while. The wonderful old man from Pennsylvania [Stevens], 
who at 70 years of age retains all the fire and vigor of his 
earlier manhood, and, with the aid of a snuff-colored wig, makes 
everybody think him only fifty, still the imperious and some- 
times wrong-headed leader of the House, faces about to the 
opposition side, braces himself back in his chair, and grimly 
eyes the member on the floor. Portly and good-natured Love- 
joy bristles up, hitches his chair forward, and raises liis hand to 
his ear to catch the opening sentences. Gray-headed, crabbed- 
faced, ruffle-shirted Wickliffe rears aloft his huge hulk of once 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 225 

noble Kentucky proportions, and with the aid of crutch and 
cane hobbles his gouty way down the aisle, and seats himself 
just under his friend, the orator's extended hand, the better 
to catch the droppings from this sanctuary of Democracy, pure 
and undefiled, Colfax, with an attention to the business before the 
House that is never at fault, turns sharp and quick in his chair 
to listen. The Chairman of the Military Committee, black- 
whiskered Olin of New York, walks down the aisle to the 
Clerk's desk, and takes a position to hear distinctly. There is 
a general rising and turning on the Democratic and Border 
State side to get more favorable positions. The ladies on the 
front seats in the g-allerics lean over to catch a better view of 
the ogre from Ohio. The hitherto sleepy-looking occuj)ants of 
the reporters' gallery shake off their indifference, exchange 
hurried remarks with each other, and lean over to notice how he 
opens, for this speech has been talked about and expected a 

long time He begins boldly, defiantly even, and is 

speedily preaching the very doctrine of devils. You can never 
subdue the seceded States. Two years of fearful experience have 
taught you that. AYhy carry on the war? If you persist it can 
only end in final separation between the North and South. 
And in that case, believe it now, as you did not my former 
warnings, the whole Northwest will go with the South ! 

" He waxes more earnest as he approaches this key-note of 
his harangues and with an energy and force that makes every 
hearer, as his moral nature revolts from the bribe, acknowledge 
all the more the splendid force with Avhich the tempter urges 
his cause, with flashing eye and livid features and extended 
hand, he hurls the climax of his threatenino; argument a«;ain 
upon the Republican side of the House : ' Believe me, as you 
did not the solemn warning of years past, the day which divides 
the North from the South, the selfsame day decrees eternal 
divorce between the West and the Eastl' .... 

" The group of Republicans standing in the open space 
before the Clerk's desk increases ; they crowd down the aisles 
among the opposition and cluster around the speaker as he 
resumes. Even the eternal chattering in the ladies' galleries 
has ceased, the seats are all crowded, the correspondents and 
reporters have been attracted by the interest of the scene, and 
for a wonder the reporters' gallery is full and attentive. 

" An effort is making on the floor to get a joint session of 

15 



226 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

the Military and Naval Committees, tt) hear a proposition from 
Cvrus ^y. Fiekl, backed by the Secretary of AVar, about a sub- 
marine cable to New Orleans. One member after another flatly 
refuses to obey the call of the Chairman and leave the debate. 
The eminent telegrapher waits an hour in the Committee-room, 
and finally gets to see three out of fourteen members. Such is 
the interest the discussion of treason's argument is arousing. 

" The speaker resumed : ' There is not one drop of rain 
that falls over the whole vast expanse of the Northwest that 
does not find its home in the bosom of the Gulf. IVe must and 
we icUl folloic it, with travel and trade ; not by treaty, but by 
right; freely, peaceably and without restriction or tribute, under 
the same Government and flag ! ' 

" It is eloquently spoken, and none are more willing to con- 
cede it than his opponents 

" He has spoken over an hour and a quarter, and has accom- 
plished that rare feat, compelled the closest attention of the 
most disorderly deliberative body in the world, from the begin- 
ni}ig to the end 

" There is a gradual relaxation, a sudden humming of con- 
versation again on the floor and through the galleries. The 
Democrats and Border State men, with faces wreathed in 
smiles, crowd around their champion with their congratula- 
tions. At a single step the shunned and execrated Yallandig- 
ham has risen to the leadersliip of their party. Deny it, as 
some of them still may, henceforth it is accomplished." 

This speech w^as received by the Democrats everywhere w^ith 

unbounded admiration, and even the Republicans acknow- 

ledf>-ed its great ability. The Boston Courier, one of the ablest 

of the Eastern papers, thus speaks of it : — 

" It is an extremely able and a very honest speech. No 
one can read it and help believing that Mr. Vallandigham is 
a bt'ave and honest man ; and the speech itself affords irre- 
sistible evidence that it is his unfaltering devotion to the 
Union and the Constitution wdiich has led those less loyal to 
stigmatise him as a secessionist and a traitor. His opinions 
will answer for themselves ; but for its historical value and its 
strojig grasp of the future, the speech ought to have the widest 
circulation.' 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 227 

The Cincinnati Enquirer, publishing it on the 20th, says : — 

" We could not publish anything more valuable or inter- 
esting than this powerful speech, one of the ablest ever deliv- 
ered in the halls of Congress, even in its palmiest days of 
glory. It is a speech Avhich would add to the fame of a Clay, 
or a Webster, or a Burke, or a Chatham. In style it is worthy 
of Macaulay's finest composition. It is a speech that ought to 
be read by every citizen of the United States, and especially by 
those who have been politically opposed to Mr. Vallandigham. 
They will discover in it a force of reasoning, a richness of 
historical illustration, a depth of patriotism, that they can not 
but recognise and admire in the fullest sense. This speech 
must produce a great effect upon jiublic opinion in favor of the 
stopping of this war, and the concluding of an armistice." 

Three days later the same paper contained the following : — 

" !Xo speech has been made in Congress for years that has 
produced so great an effect in political circles, has been so uni- 
versally admired for surpassing ability, for genuine and manly 
patriotism, for its wise statesmansliip, as that of Mr. Vallan- 
digham It is a valuable and undying contribution to Ameri- 
can Congressional eloquence, and will raise its author to a high 
place among the greatest men of the country." 

Such was the tone of the Democratic press throughout the 
country. In most of the Democratic papers the speech was 
published in whole or in part, and in pamphlet form it was 
circulated by tens of thousands. 

A few sentences of this sj)eech we present, peculiarly appro- 
priate to these times of sycophancy to power, and unparalleled 
dishonesty, fraud and corruption in high places : — 

" I had rather that my right arm w^ere plucked from its 
socket and cast into eternal burnings, than, with my convictions, 
to have thus defiled my soul with the guilt of moral perjury. 
Sir, I Avas not taught in that school which proclaims that ' all 
is fair in politics.' I loathe, abhor, and detest the execrablp 
maxim. I stamp upon it. No State can endure a single 



228 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

generation whose public men practise it. Whoever teaches it 
is a corrupter of youth. What we most want in these times, 
and at- all times, is honest and independent public men. That 
man who is dishonest in politics is not honest at heart in any- 
thing; and sometimes moral cowardice is dishonesty. Do 
right, and trust to God and truth, and the people. Perish 
office, perish honors, perish life itself; but do the thing that 
is right, and do it like a man. I did it. Certainly, Sir, I 
could not doubt what he must suifer who dare defy the opinions 
and passions, not to say the madness, of twenty millions of 
people. Had I not read history ? Did I not know human 
nature ? But I appealed to Time • and right nobly hath the 
avensrer answered me." 

Mr. Yallandigham rejected utterly at that time, both m pri- 
vate letters and interviews, and in his speech, the idea of final 
separation as the object of a cessation of hostilities; and in this 
he uttered but the almost universal sentiment of the Demo- 
cratic part}% He believed that the Administration was then 
willing to make peace iipon the basis of such separation, and 
only desired to have their opponents commit themselves to 
the same policy, thereby sharing the odium and relieving 
them in part from the responsibility of the act. Failing in 
this, they rallied late in January, and resolving upon a more 
" vigorous prosecution of the war " than ever before, resorted 
at last to a formal suspension of the habeas corpus, an indem- 
nity to the President and all under him, and the Conscription. 
At the same time a formidable effort was made to revive the 
scheme of a new "conservative" party to supersede the Demo- 
cratic organization and oppose radicalism, but support the war. 
This time the movement was to comprehend a portion of the 
Abolition or Kepublican party ; and cliief among its leaders 
were to be Thurlow Weed and William H. Seward. Mr.Yal- 
landigham could at that time obtain no opjjortunity to address 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 229 

a public meeting in New York ; but being invited to speak in 
Newark, New Jersey, very near to the former city, he gladly 
availed himself of the occasion to denounce, in the severest 
terms, the proposed arrangement. Whatever may have been 
the effect of the speech, it is certain that the movement utterly 
failed. 

On the 23d of February the Conscription Bill was under 
consideration in the House, and a debate ensued which for 
boldness, eloquence, and power has seldom been equalled. The 
bill had passed the Senate at midnight, in the absence of those 
who were opj)osed to it, who had not an opportunity even to 
record their votes against it. It was intended that there 
should be no debate upon it in the House, but the minority 
resolved that they would be heard, and by parliamentary tact 
and skill they secured discussion. Crittenden, Pendleton, 
Voorhees, Biddle, and others put forth their whole strength. 
Mr. Vallandigham addressed the House at night in a speech 
unprepared, and without a single note, except the paging of the 
extracts which he read, but which, in the language of Mr. 
Voorhees, "held the House spell-bound," many upon both 
sides regarding it as his ablest Congressional effort, suspassing 
in argumentative force and concise vehemence his speech of the 
14th of January. The bill finally passed, but not until it had 
been stripped of some of its most objectionable features. 

This was Mr. Vallandigham's last speech in Congress, and 
nobly did it close his Congressional career. He concluded 
thus : — 

" Sir, I have done now with my objections to this bill. I 
have spoken as though the Constitution survived, and was still 
the supreme law of the land. But if, indeed, there be no Con- 



230 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

stitution any longer, limiting and restraining the men in power, 
then there is none binding npon the States or the people. God 
forbid ! We have a Constitution yet, and laws yet. To them 
I appeal. Give us our rights ; give us known and fixed laws ; 
o-ive us the judiciary ; arrest us only upon due process of law ; 
Sive us presentment or indictment by grand juries, speedy and 
public trial, trial by jury and at home; tell us the nature and 
cause of the accusation, confront us with witnesses ; allow us 
witnesses on our behalf, and the assistance of counsel for our 
defence ; secure us in our persons, our houses, our papers, and 
our effects ; leave us arms, not for resistance to law or against 
rio-htful authority, but to defend ourselves from outrage and vio- 
lence ; give us free speech and a free press ; the right peaceably 
to assemble ; and above all, free and undisturbed elections and 
the ballot : take our sons, take our money, our property, take 
all else, and we will wait a little, till at the time and in the 
manner appointed by Constitution and law, we shall eject you 
from the trusts you have abused, and the seats of power you 
have dishonored, and other and better men shall reign in your 
stead." 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE AREEST. 

On the 4th of March, 1863, the 37tli Congress acljoiirned. 
In compliance with invitations previously received, Mr. Yal- 
landigham went Eastward to spend a week or two in that 
section before returning home. He arrived in Philadelphia on 
the afternoon of March the 5th ; and from the Inquirer, a Re- 
publican paper, we take the following account of his reception, 
and of the speech he made tliat evening : — 

" Clement L. Vallandigham, Democratic member of Con- 
gress for Ohio, arrived in this city yesterday afternoon and 
engaged rooms at the Girard House. His arrival was the 
occasion of a grand Democratic celebration, which took place 
last evening in front of the Girard House. 

" Early in the evening the members of the Democratic 
Central Club assembled at the Club Room, on Walnut street, 
below Sixth, and formed in procession, headed by Beck's 
band, j)roceeding from thence to the hotel, where Mr. Vallan- 
digham was serenaded by the band. Previous to the appear- 
ance of Mr. Vallandigham, the street in front of the hotel 
presented a brilliant and enthusiastic appearance. 

" The street was one blaze of fire-works, and the yells and 
cheers of the assembled crowd were deafening. On the appear- 
ance of Mr. Vallandigham these manifestations were increased 
and continued for some time. After order had been in some 
measure restored, Mr. Charles W. Carrigan stepped forward 
and introduced Mr. Vallandigham to the crowd in attendance 
as a white man and a fearless champion of the rights of the 
people, and a steadfast supporter of the Democratic partv. 
Mr. Vallandigham spoke as follows : 



232 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" He said he was present more to acknowledge the unex- 
pected and enthusiastic greeting than to dLscuss public ques- 
tions. He thanked the audience for the reception tendered 
him, and hoped that they would ' hear him for his cause, and 
be silent that they might hear.' He proclaimed himself a true 
Union man, as he always had been, and he intended to be so. 
He had differed with the Administration only as to the mode 
of preserving the Union. He had differed with them only in 
his support of the Constitution. 

'' The Administration had yet to learn that there were two 
Union parties in the country, if they really were for the Union 
as it was and the Constitution as it is. The only true, uncon- 
ditional Union party was the Democratic party, which had 
maintained and preserx^ed the Union for over sixty years. The 
Administration must be taught that men have a right to differ 
as to the mode in which the Union is to be maintained. If, in 
the discussion of this question, the Democrats were defeated at 
the ballot-box, they would submit, and would require the same 
from their opponents, if beaten. 

" The s])eakcr argued that the Federal Government was 
supreme within its limits, as were also the State Governments. 
Each should be obeyed to the extent of its authority. That 
the speaker was a Union man was not what had been said of 
him by a lyiug press, and he rejoiced that the time had come 
when he could vindicate himself from the malicious charges 
which had been hurled against him. Until the Democratic 
party get into power, which would be the case in March 1865, 
they would exercise the right to adopt every means tending to 
the restoration of the Union. 

" The great plan which the speaker advocated to this end 
was to call a convention of all the States, which, he argued, 
would result in a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation 
of peace. In the meantime there Avill have to be a cessation 
of the charges of treason made against the Democratic party. 
. . . He continued at some length, arguing the propriety of 
calling a convention of the States for effecting a solution of the 
difficulties in which this country is involved." 

The concourse in front of the hotel during the delivery of 
his speech was very large, and at the close of the meeting he 
was handsomely entertained by the " Philadelphia Club " at 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 233 

their rooms ; and the cordiality with which he was rece'ived, 
and the kindness Avith which he was treated during his sojourn 
in the city, were to him exceedingly gratifying. 

The next day he went to New York, and on Saturday 
evening delivered a long, able, and eloquent speech before the 
Democratic Union Association at their headquarters in Broad- 
way. Though the evening was most inclement and stormy, 
the room was packed to its utmost capacity. After being in- 
troduced by Mr. Luke F. Cozans, President of the Association, 
and greeted with loud and protracted cheers, he sjjoke as 
follows : — 

" Gentlemen: — I was not aware till after my arrival here a 
few hours ago of the stereotyped threats that this man or 
that man representing certain sentiments should not be permit- 
ted to speak in the city of New York. If I had known it, I 
probably would have taken an earlier train and been here a few 
hours in advance. [" Good," and applause.] Tlie spirit of those 
before me sufficiently proves the time for all that has gone by. 
I am here to speak to-night regardless of all threats [" Good, 
good," and cheers] ; and if there were any disagreeable conse- 
quences to follow, regardless of those consequences. [Loud 
cheers.] But there are none; and I am here to speak just such 
things as in my judgment a true patriot and a free man ought 
to speak. [Enthusiastic cheers.] I accejjtcd the invitation 
very cordially to address this club, and came at no inconsider- 
able persoiial sacrifice, because the exigencies of the times which 
are again upon us with threatening aspect, not only justify, but 
in my judgment demand of every public man that all personal 
considerations should be laid aside for the public good. [Ap- 
plause,] I know as well as any man the pressure that is now 
made upon the Democratic j^arty with the vain hope of crush- 
ing it out. These men who are in j^ower at Washino-ton 
extending their agencies out through the cities and States of the 
Union, and threatening to re-inaugurate a reign of terror, mav 
as well know that we comprehend precisely their purpose, i 
beg leave to assure you that it cannot and will not be permitted 
to succeed. [Applause.] The people of this country endorsed 



234 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLAI^DIGHAM. 

it once because they were told that it was essential to the speedy 
suppression or crushing out of the rebellion and the restoration 
of the Union ; and they so loved the Union of these States that 
they would consent even for a little while, under false and now 
broken promises of the men in power, to surrender those liber- 
ties in order that that great object might be, as it was promised, 
accomplished speedily. They have been deceived ; instead of 
crushing out the rebellion, the effort has been to crush out the 
spirit of liberty. [Cheers.] 

'' The conspiracy of those in power is not so much for a 
via::orous prosecution of the war against rebels in the South as 
against the democracy in peace at home. [Cheers.] And now 
no effort, however organised, premeditated or well concerted, 
to restore those times through which we have passed, and 
which will stand upon the pages of history as the darkest of 
all the annals of America — no effort, I say, will be permitted 
to succeed, and the sooner they comprehend that the better, and 
the less trouble there will be in the land. [Applause.] We 
were born to an inheritance of freedom ; the Constitution came 
to us from our fathers ; it guaranteed to us rights and liberties 
older than the Constitution itself — God-given, belonging to 
the people, belonging to men, because God made them free — 
and we do not mean to surrender one jot or tittle of those 
rights and liberties. ["Amen," and loud cheers.] Yet nothing 
l)ut the consciousness that just at this moment men desperately 
wicked have deliberately determined to make one last expiring 
effort to break down the reaction set in from the people against 
the policy of this Administration, against this party in power, 
and the conviction that it was necessary to meet that instantly 
and everywhere, could have induced me to be here to-night, 
wearied and exhausted as I am with the labors of Congress, 
which, thank God, has just expired [Laughter and cheers], 
absent from home for many months, my own business ne- 
glected, the politics of my own State allowed to pass by for 
the present — nothing, I say, but these considerations could 
have induced me to be present to-night ; but I rejoice that I 
am here, and look in the face, and am looked in the face 1)y 
freemen — men whose eyes speak the determination of their 
hearts to meet this crisis with whatsoever exigency this Ad- 
ministration may choose to make necessary. [Applause.] I 
am no revolutionist ; I am in all things as far as practicable a 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 235 

peace man, and want peace and order in this country. I am 
ready to submit to many things that I think had better not be 
attempted, just so long as assemblages of the people, and 
the ballot, which are the great correctives of evil, and which 
were intended by our fathers to be the machinery by which 
peaceable revolution should be accomplished in the admini- 
stration of government, remain untouched ; but I say to the 
Administration : ' Lay not your hands at the foundation of 
the fabric of our liberties; you may lop off a branch here and 
there, and it will survive ; we may tolerate that for the sake 
of a greater good hereafter; but whenever you reach forth your 
hand to strike at the very vitals of public liberty, then the 
people must and will determine in their capacity what remedy 
the occasion demands.' [Cheers,] But we have not come to 
that ; I liave seen enough already to satisfy me upon that sub- 
ject, not in the West only, about which there can be no doubt, 
but in Philadelphia, the most terror-ridden city in the Union 
eighteen months ago. The spirit of the men born within the 
sound of Independence bell yet survives in all its grandeur 
and its majesty [applause] ; and I think I can answer, not 
merely from what I see here to-night, but from what elsewhere 
in other ways I have learned, that the spirit of the people of 
New York is not behind." 

After referring to some of the arbitrary measures of the 
men in power, and their infringements on the rights of the 
people, he continues : — 

" Now, all this, infamous and execrable as it is, is enough 
to make the blood of the coldest man who has one single 
appreciation in his heart of freedom, to boil. [Loud applause.] 
Still, so long as they leave to us free assemblages, free discus- 
sion and a free ballot, I do not want to see, and will not 
encourage or countenance any other mode of getting rid of it. 
[^' That's it," and cheers.] We are ready to try these questions 
in that way; but I have only to repeat what I said a little 
while ago, that when the attempt is made to take away that 
other right, and the only instrumentality peaceably of reform- 
ing and correcting abuses — free assemblages, free speech, free 
ballot and free elections — that then the hour will have arrived 
when it will be the duty of freemen to find some other and 



236 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

efficient mode of defending their liberties. [Loud and pro- 
tracted cheering, the whole audience rising to their feet.] Our 
fathers did not inaugurate the Revolution of 1776, they did 
not endure the suiferings and privations of the seven years' 
war, to escape from the mild and moderate control of a consti- 
tutional monarchy like England, to be at last in the third 
generation subjected to a tyranny equal to that of any upon 
the face of the globe. [Loud applause.] Now, Sir, I repeat 
that it will not in my judgment come to this. I do not believe 
that this Administration will undertake to deprive us of that 
right. I do not think it will venture for one moment to at- 
tempt to prevent, under any pretext whatever, the assembling- 
together of the people for the fair discussion of their measures 
and policy. I do not believe it, because it seems to me with all 
the folly and madness that have been manifested in these high 
places, it seems to me they must foresee what will inevitably 
follow. ■ Believing this, and believing that the best way of 
averting the crisis is to demand inexorably and resolutely, with 
the firmness and dignity of freemen, these rights, and let them 
know distinctly that we do not mean to surrender them, I am 
here to-night to proclaim it just as I have. [Loud applause.]" 

The following is the closing paragraph of his speech : — 

"I make no threats — no wise man ever did. [Cheers.] 
I never yield to threats, therefore I expect no one else to yield ; 
but, as I have said, in the spirit of Avarning, as one who would 
avert a struggle wdiich this people will make to maintain their 
liberties, I have spoken, and I would that my voice could pene- 
trate that most impenetrable of all recesses, the precincts of the 
White House, and that the men who are surrounded by the par- 
asites of power — the flatterers who are the vermin of courts, 
with that legion of contractors and place-men who speak not the 
truth and represent not the people — that a voice from the 
people could reach their ears, and that the voice being heard 
might be heeded. Then shall Ave escape the convulsions which 
have visited other countries ; the scenes of revolutions in former 
times will not be enacted in our midst, but peaceably and 
quietly, under the Constitution and in accordance with law, the 
changes of administration successively year after year will go 
on in this country, which before God I believe, and it is the 
faith and hope of my heart, is destined yet once again in peace, 



Llli-E OF CLEMENT L„ VALLANDIGHAM. 237 

happiness and prosperity to realise that most splendid of visions 
that ever fell upon human eyes — one Union, one Constitution, 
one Destiny." 

From New York city Mr. Vallandigham proceeded to 
Albany, and after conferring with leading men of the party on 
the state of the country, passed into Connecticut, and made a 
speech or two in the canvass then in progress preparatory to 
the approaching election. He then turned his face homeward, 
and arriving at Dayton on the 13th of March, received a most 
cordial and enthusiastic welcome. The account of it is thus 
given in the Dayton Empire : — 

"Hon. C. L. Vallandigham arrived at his home in this city 
at 4| yesterday p. m., and although but two days' notice was had 
of his coming, received one of the greatest ovations ever given 
to any man in Ohio. Long before the hour of arrival of the 
train on which he was expected, his constituents began to flock 
to the depot by thousands. It seemed as if every man, woman 
and child in the District had come out to do honor to this 
champion advocate of Constitutional right. Two bands of 
music enlivened the occasion, while a cannon belched forth with 
its thunder-tones of welcome, awakening the valley of the 
Miami as it was seldom if ever awakened before. Presently 
the whistling of the locomotive was heard, and as the train 
neared the depot, the thousands of persons rushed forward, all 
eager to catch the first sight of the man who has so nobly, gal- 
lantly and fearlessly represented the loMtc man's interest iu the 
Congress that has just adjourned. The crowd was so dense 
that it was almost impossible for Mr. Vallandigham to reach 
the carriage which was iu readiness to convey him to the Court 
House, from the steps of whicli he was to sjieak. Plaving at 
length been almost carried to his carriage, and being seated, he 
was hailed with deafening cheers, while the cannon responded 
with thirty-four rounds. The procession being formed, pre- 
ceded by the Marshals and bands of music, proceeded to the 
Court House, where the recejition speech was made by Hon. 
David A. Houk, who said : — 

" Honored Sir : — I have been commissioned by your friends 



238 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 

of this city and county, and throughout the 3rd Congressional 
District, to extend to you upon this occasion, and in their 
behalf, their most cordial and friendly greeting, and to bid you 
a hearty welcome upon your return to the bosom of your home 
and of your friends. 

" There is perhaps no pul^lic man in the country who has 
more reason to be proud of the devotion of his hosts of friends 
than yourself. This vast assemblage, Sir, by their very 
presence here, speak in a language far more potent and signifi- 
cant than any words I can utter, their heartfelt approval and 
commendation of your course as their representative in the 
councils of the nation. For you have been a peace man, Sir, 
and we honor you for it. You proclaimed to the people when 
this most unnatural, and in the language of the President, this 
unnecessary and injurious civil war Avas about to be inaugurated, 
that a conflict of arms would but widen the breach, that a 
government founded upon the principle of consent — a free 
government — could never be maintained by force. You had 
learned your lessons of wisdom from the principles of the 
fathers who conceived and established our system of govern- 
ment. These principles, founded in eternal truth at the very 
inception of the great political organization to which you and 
I have the honor of belonging, were engrafted upon its creed. 

"You, Sir, have been a faithful sentinel upon the watch- 
tower of public liberty ; and in the darkest hours of the night, 
and when the storms of popular fury raged most fiercely, have 
kept the light of hope burning, and have promptly, fearlessly, 
and resolutely sounded the alarm upon every approach to 
danger. 

" An ancient Jewish king, upon a memorable occasion, as we 
are informed by the Inspired Book, called all the princes of 
Israel, the captains, the stewards of all the substance of his 
household and of his children, and all the valiant men, unto 
Jerusalem. And when he had assembled them about him, he 
stood up upon his feet and said : ' Hear, my brethren, and my 
people ; as for me, I had it in my heart to jjuild a house of rest 
for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of 
our God, and had made ready for the building; but God said 
unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because 
thou liast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.' 

" When ihc shattered Temple of Constitutional Liberty comes 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 239 

to he 7'eco')istnicted in this count)-}/, it will not be done by the men 
of blood. 

" You, Sir, liave not been unmindful of these Divine admo- 
nitions, and of the promises of the Gospel of Peace as uttered 
by Him who spake as man never spake — 'Blessed are the 
peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God.' 

" You, Sir, may well feel truly thankful that your counsels 
have contributed no aid or encouragement to the plunging of 
the country into this fearful and bloody civil strife. The blood 
of the 300,000 victims that have been sacrificed will fall upon 
other heads than yours. 

" In view of the valuable and distinguished services whicli 
you have rendered as the Representative of this people, and of 
your bold, able and manly vindication of the principles of free 
government and of popular liberty, whenever and wherever 
they have been assailed, regardless alike of the frowns of tyrants 
and usurpers, and the slanders, vituperation and abuse of their 
venal presses and minions, permit me, Sir, in conclusion, to say 
that we have thought this public occasion appropriate and 
fitting to give expression of our gratitude to you for the faith- 
ful manner in which you have jaerformed your trust. 

" With the earnest wish, Sir, that your life may be spared 
for many long years of future usefulness, I extend the right 
hand of fellowship, and again bid you a cheerful and hearty 
welcome home. 

"me. vallandigham's eesponse. 

"After acknowledging in fitting terms the cordial and 
enthusiastic reception, he referred to the struggle now going on 
between despotic power and liberty, and of the determination 
of the Democratic party to maintain free speech, a free i)ress, 
and the ballot-box at all hazards. He was for obedience to all 
laws, and for requiring the men in power also to olxy them. 
He would try all questions of Constitution and law before tlie 
courts, and then enforce the decrees of the courts. He was for 
trying all political questions by the ballot. He would resist 
no law by force ; he would endure almost every other wrono- as 
long as free discussion, free assemblages of the people and a free 
ballot remained ; but the moment they were attacked, he would 
resist. We had a right to change Administrations, and policies 
and parties, not by forcible revolution, but by the ballot-box ; 



240 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and this right must be maintained at all hazards. He would 
try the question of the constitutionality and validity of the 
Conscription Act in court, and argue its inexpediency and 
odiousness before the people, but would have no resistance to it. 

" He closed by a touching allusion to the assassination of 
his friend Bollnieyer, the first martyr in the cause of Con- 
stitutional liberty. He missed from that vast assemblage one 
familiar face, one manly form. That form once possessed as 
manly, as noble a heart as God ever gave to man. That form 
now mouldered beneath the clods of the valley, but his memory 
was still dear, and would ever remain so to the friends of the 
Union and of law and order. 

" Mr. Vallandigham descended from the steps, from where 
he had spoken, entered his carriage, and was escorted by the 
crowd to his residence." 

The following additional account is from the same paper : — 

"The reception of Mr. Vallandigham at the depot last 
evening was one of the most enthusiastic affairs we ever wit- 
nessed. Several thousand people — mostly personal and politi- 
cal friends of the distinguished Congressman — assembled at 
the depot some time before the arrival of the train, while the 
cannon ^ awakened the echoes ' at frequent intervals. AV^hen 
the train arrived, and Mr. V. made liis appearance on the 
platform, the cheers that greeted him left no doubt about the 
sincerity of the welcome extended to him by the people on his 
return home The shouts were really deafening; and the 
waving of white handkerchiefs from hundreds of fair hands 
gave unmistakable evidence of the interest the ladies felt in the 
safe return of the gentleman whom they had assembled to 
honor. 

" The Reception Committee were relieved of their office by 
the crowd, who took up Mr. V. on their shoulders, and bore 
him, amid the shouts and congratulations of his fellow-citizens, 
to the carriage awaiting him. The procession was then formed 
by Marshals Egry and Kline, and the crowd, preceded by the 
Regimental Band, and followed by the Salem Band, proceeded 
to the Court House. Thg side- walks were crowded all tlie way 
up from the depot, and demonstrations of welcome were made 
by the people all along the streets. At the corner of Main 
and Thirds Mr. Y. -was conducted to the area in front of the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 241 

Court House. As we have already stated, an account of the 
meeting at that point is given elsewhere. Aflter Mr. V. had 
concluded his remarks, he was again conducted to the carriage, 
and the procession again formed, and accompanied him home, 
when he was carried into the house. Altogether, it was by far 
the most hearty and enthusiastic welcome ever extended to any 
one in this city." 

On his return home Mr. Vallandigham found his own 
State, and Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois formed into a mili- 
tary district and placed under the command of General A. E. 
Burnside, a rash, Aveak, and ignorant man, who, evincing at 
the battle of Fredericksburg his total incapacity to contend 
with armed rebels at the South, had been sent to control un- 
armed Democrats in the West — men as true to the Union as 
he was, but who claimed the privilege of dissenting from the 
policy of the Administration, and freely expressing their views 
on public affairs. He found the Constitution ignored, the laws 
disregarded, and in their stead military orders of the most des- 
potic kind w4iich the people Avere expected implicitly to obey. 
One of these was Order No. 38, threatening severe punishment 
to those who should be guilty of implied treason ! Anotlier w'as 
Order No. 15, prohibiting the people to keep and bear arms; 
and a third, No. 9, prohibiting any criticism whatever of the 
civil or military policy of the Administration. To such gross 
violations of the provisions of the Constitution, such palpable 
infringements of the rights of the people, Mr. Vallandigham 
could not patiently submit, and at various meetings which he 
addressed, during the months of March and April he denounced 
them in unsparing terms, and declared his intention, in the 
future as in the past, to criticise and condemn whatever was 
wrong in the course and conduct of the men in jjower. He 
16 



242 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

believed that it was their intention utterly to subdue the 
spirit of the people, to crush out freedom of the press, freedom 
of speech, and freedom of assembling together to discuss polit- 
ical subjects ; and this despotism he was determined to resist 
at all hazards, declaring in one of his speeches, " If it be 
really the design of the Administration to force this issue, then 
come arrest, come imprisonment, come exile, come death itself ! 
I am ready here to-night to meet it." 

On the 21st of March a very large meeting was held in 
Hamilton. Mr. Vallandigham was present, and commented 
freely and severely on Order No. 15, which had just been 
issued. His remarks Avill sufficiently indicate the character of 
that order. 

" I "will not speak disrespectfully of Colonel Carrington ; 
he and I served pleasantly together in the militia of Ohio on 
the peace establishment [laughter], and I found him always 
•rcntlemanly in his deportment. I am glad to learn that lie is 
still so regarded at Indianapolis. How could he have issued 
such an order ? I know he is ' great ' on general orders ; but 
such a one passes my comprehension. I am sure he cannot 
want to do wrong, for he must know that two years hence, 
under the legislation of the late Congress, a Democratic Presi- 
dent or Secretary of War — and who knows but I may be 
Secretary of War myself? [laughter and cheers] — can strike 
his name from the roll without even a why or a Avherefore. 
It would be well for all ambitious military gentlemen just now 
to recollect this small fact and confine themselves strictly to 
their legal and Constitutional military duties, and to allow 
others to enjoy their opinions and civil rights unmolested. 

'* But to the order. Here it is : — 

" ' Hkadquarters United States Forces, ) 
"'Indianapolis, Ind., March 17, 1863. ) 

" ' General Order No. 15. 

" ' 1 . The habit of carrying arms upon the person has 
greatly increased.' Well, so it has, and in times of threats and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L, VALLAXDIGHAM. 243 

danger like these, it ought to, and in spite of all orders it will 
increase. 'And is j^rejwdieial to peace and good order.' Sir, 
restore to us peace and good order, and M'e will lay aside all 
arms, and be glad of the chance. [Great applause.] ' As well 
as a violation of civil law.' I deny it ; but if so, who gave 
authority to this gentleman to lecture on civil law in a military 
order ? ' Especially at this time it is unnecessary, impolitic and 
dangerous.' Was ever the like read or heard of before ? ' At 
this time ' — at a time when Democrats are threatened with 
violence everywhere ; when mobs are happening every day, and 
Democratic presses destroyed ; when secret societies are being 
formed all over the country to stimulate to violence ; when at 
hotels and in depots, and in railroad cars and on the street 
corners Democrats are scowled at and menaced, a military order 
coolly announces that it is unnecessary, Impolitic, and danger- 
ous to carry arms ! And who signs this order ? ' Henry B. 
Carrington, Colonel 18th U. 8. Infantry, Commanding.' Com- 
manding what? The 18th U. S. Infantry, or at most the 
United States forces of Indiana — but not the people, the free 
white American citizens of American descent not in the military 
service. That is the extent of his authority, and no more. 

"And now, Sh-, I hold in my hand a general order also — an 
order binding on all military men and all civilians alike — ^ on 
colonels and generals and commanders-in-chief. State and Fed- 
eral. [Applause.] Hear it: ^ The right of ^he people to -kfep 
AND BEAR ARMS shall not be inf ringed' By order of the States 
and people of the United States, George "Washington command- 
ing. [Great cheering.] That, Sir, is General Order No. 1 — 
the Constitution of the United States. [Loud cheers.] Who 
now is to be obeyed — Carrington or Washington? 

" But I have another 'order ' yet. ' The people have a -right 
to hear arms for their defence and security, and the military 
shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.' [Renewed 
cheering.] That, Sir, is General Order No. 2 — the Constitu- 
tion of Ohio, by order of the people of Ohio. Here, Sir, are 
our warrants for keeping and bearing arms, and by the blessing 
of God we mean to do it ; and if the men in poM'er undertake 
in an evil hour to demand them of us, we will return the Spar- 
tan answer, ' Come and take them.' 

" But Colonel Carrington's order proceeds : — ' The Major- 
General commanding the dej)artment of the Oliio.' Command- 



244 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

ing whom, again I ask? Only the military forces of the 
department of Ohio, but not a single citizen in it. ' Having 
ordered that all sales of arms, powder, lead, and percussion 
caps be prohibited until further orders.' Where, Sir, is the 
law for all that ? Are we a conquered province, governed by 
military proconsuls ? And so then has it come to this, that 
the Constitution is now suspended by a military general order 
No. 15 ! Sir, the constitutional right to keep and bear arms 
carries with it the right to buy and sell arms ; and fire-arms 
are useless without powder, lead, and percussion caps. It is 
our right to have them, and we mean to obey general orders 
Nos. 1 and 2, instead of No. 15. [Loud applause.] 

" But I read further : — ' And that any violation of said 
order will be followed by the conjisixition of the goods sold, 
and the seizure of the stock of the vendor.' Is the man de- 
ranged ? Confiscation indeed ! Why, Sir, the men who are 
clothed now with a little brief authority seem to think of 
nothing except taxation, emancipation, confiscation, conscrip- 
tion, and every other word ending in t-i-o-n. [Laughter.] 
But General Order No. 1 says, ' No man shall be deprived of 
property without due process of law ; ' and General Order 
No. 2 says ' j)rivate property shall ever be held inviolate, and 
every person for an injury done him in his land, goods, person 
or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law.' And 
though the writ of habeas corjnis may be suspended, the writs 
of replevin and injunction cannot be. [Cries of " good, good."] 

"But Order No. 15 proceeds : 'And said order having been 
extended by the Major- General to cover the entire department, 
is hereby promulged.' Yes, promulged — 'for immediate ob- 
servance throughout the State.' Can military insolence go 
further ? Is this the way the military is to be in strict sul*- 
ordination to the civil power ? And does the Colonel com- 
manding the 18th United States Infantry thus undertake to 
promulge a general order suspending or abrogating the Con- 
stitution of the United States and of Indiana ? Are we living 
in America or Austria ? 

"And now the fitting commentary on all this attempt to dis- 
arm the white man, while public arms are being put into the 
hands of the negro, is in the second section ®f this general 
order No. 15, alluding to the recent destruction of a Democratic 
printing-press, by what the Colonel commanding the 18th 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 245 

U. S. Infantry, drawing it mild after the fashion of Sairey Gamp, 
calls ' a 2)opnlar demonstration ; ' and yet not one of the per- 
petrators of this outrage, although soldiers and under military 
law, have been punished, nor ever will be. Yet at such a time 
of lawless violence it is proposed that the people shall be dis- 
armed! Never! [Loud cheers.] Sir, I repeat now what I 
believe to be the true programme for these times : Try every 
question of law in your courts, and every question of politics 
before the people and through the ballot-box ; maintain your 
constitutional rights at all hazards against military usurpation. 
Let there be no resistance to law, but meet and repel all mobs 
and mob violence by force and arms on the spot. [Great and 
continued clieering.] " 

About this time he wrote the following letter to Alfred 
Sanderson, Esq., of Lancaster, Pa. : — 

" Dayton, Ohio, April 24, 1863. 

" My engagements in New York precluded me from accept- 
ing your invitation and addressing you previous to my return 
West. I expect to go East about the 12th of May or 16th of 
June, and if I do, I Avill if possible visit Lancaster going or 
coming, and address your JDemocracy. Indeed, it ^\\\\ give 
me great pleasure to comply with your invitation. Should I 
be able to come, I will advise you in time. 

" Meanwhile let me say that everything depends on keeping 
the Democratic party up to the full measure of principle and 
sound policy, true to the Constitution, faithful to the Union, 
steadfast to the Government Avhich they constitute, and devoted 
to liberty at the hazard of life itself. Truth and reason applied 
to these high and sacred objects arc the only powers or agencies 
left to the Democracy, and by a bold and manly use alone of 
them can we succeed in the elections. Everything else is in 
the hands of the Abolition party — the Administration. 
Through the press, but especially by public meetings and open 
and courageous organization, this use is to be made. Good 
men individually upon our ticket will not be enough. The 
peojile are not now voting for men, but for ideas, principles, 
policies. No public man is Avorth a rush now unless he repre- 
sents something besides candidacy for an office. Enthusiasm is 



246 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIOHAM. 

power — a greater power, especially among the masses, among 
workingmen and a rural population, than any agency which 
this Administration can bring to bear, whether it be corruption 
or force ; but there can be no popular enthusiasm for any one, 
above all just in these times of powerful commotion, unless he 
is the embodiment, or at least a representative, of some great 
principle or cause. And to be effective it must be antagonistic 
to some other and opposite principle or cause ; and the stronger 
and more direct the antagonism, the better. This is essential 
now. 

" Last summer and fall the Administration was unsettled, 
ostensibly at least, in its policy, and its party therefore more or 
less divided. Not so now. It has a policy, and means stead- 
fastly to adhere to it. Whoever supports the Administration 
now, supports its policy. All ctpohfjij for temporising by the 
Democratic party is utterly gone. The Administration Aboli- 
tion party is thoroughly consolidated, and unquestionably it is 
now contending solely for unity and a strong centralised govern- 
ment through rear, and, failing in this, then disunion. And it 
will rally to its support all men who from any cause, sentiment, 
or interest, are in favor of either the object or the means. Now 
the direct antagonism of all this is, \mion and constitutional 
liberty through an honorable j^eace. And what nobler principle 
or idea, what holier cause for the Democratic party to struggle 
for ? Arguments and appeals without numl)cr, the strongest 
ever urged, can be arrayed in its support — from religion, from 
philosophy, from human nature, i)olitics, history, from tlie 
principles of our form of government, and from the utter and 
inevitable failure of all other means of securing that great end. 
With all these agencies at our command, an enthusiasm can be 
evoked from the hearts of the people before which all opposi- 
tion will be swept away as by a consuming fire. 

"The recent elections throughout the Northwest have 
resulted most auspiciously for the Democratic cause, and carry 
rejoicing to every patriotic and truly Union heart. 
" Very truly, 

" C. L. Yallaxdighajm. 
"Alfred Sandebson, Esq." 

On the evening of the 30th of April he addressed a meet- 
ing in Columbus. A brief account of the meeting and of his 
speech we take from the Ohio Statesman of May 2d : — 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 247 

" Early on Thursday evenino^ the people began to gather 
at the west front of the State House, to hear an address from 
Hon. C. L. Vallandighani. Hemmersbach's band came uj) 
and played inspiring national airs. The assembly continued to 
increase and soon swelled to two or three thousand persons, a 
goodly proportion of whom were ladies. 

" The meeting was organised by the appointment of E. F. 
Bingham, Esq., as Chairman. Mr. Vallandighani then pro- 
ceeded to address the vast assemblage in an eloquent and im- 
pressive speech of over two hours in length. He made a bold 
and manly defence of the right of the people to assemble in 
times of peace or war, and to discuss and hear discussed the 
policy of any administration, and to approve or condemn the 
official acts of any one in civil or military authority. 

" Mr. V. declared his unfaltering devotion to the Union of 
the States, and that never with his consent should peace be 
purchased at the price of disunion. Such, he affirmed, was 
the universal sentiment of the Democratic party. He demon- 
strated that the leaders of the opposite party, while they had 
j)ersistently from the beginning of the war rejected all measures 
for the restoration of peace imth the Union, had been ready and 
willing to agree to a peace upon terms of disunion. It was 
because Democrats would not agree to any settlement of the 
great controversy which did not contemplate the restoration of 
the Union with all the States in it, and with the rights of all 
under the Constitution unimpaired, that they were denounced 
by Abolition disunionists as rebels and traitors. 

" Many other points were made by Mr. V., to which avo 
liave not space even to allude. During his long speech, quiet 
and good order pervaded the entire audience, unbroken, save 
by the low murmur of some Abolitionist who retired wounded 
from the field, or the loud shouts of approval that frequently 
rose from the audience." 



On the next day, the first day of May, Mr. Vallandigham 
addressed a very large assemblage at Mt. Vernon, and as 
this was the occasion on which he made the .speech for which 
ostensibly he was arrested, we will give a fuller account of the 
meeting than would otherwise be necessary ; and for this 



248 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

account wc arc indebted principally to James T. Irvine, Esq., 
one of the secretaries. After speaking of the assemblages of 
the people at various places in the fall of 1862 and the spring 
of 1863, he says : — 

" The meetings I have referred to were purely voluntary 
and spontaneous; indeed the Democracy were solicitous for 
them all over the State. They proceeded from the people 
themselves in their several localities, and were not appointed 
or called for by State Central Committees or organizations. 
Mr. Vallandigham regarded these demonstrations of popular 
opinion as favorable signs of the times — as manifestations of 
such an overwhelming popular sentiment in behalf of the old 
system of government according to the Constitution and laws 
as would oblige the Lincoln Administration to observe the 
established requirements of * the best government the sun ever 
shone upon.' In conversation with friends, including the 
writer, Mr. Vallandigham expressed strongly his opinion that 
such meetings and keeping them up were necessary to main- 
tain, preserve and perpetuate the spirit of liberty among the 
people at large, and thus save it from being utterly destroyed in 
this country by the despotism and tyranny of the ruling powers. 
And not only Mr. Vallandigham, but many others of our 
leadintJ- men believed and held that the vindication, by these 
meetings and the speeches addressed to them, of the right of 
the people to peaceably assemble and discuss public affairs and 
petition for a redress of grievances, Avas what secured that 
rio-ht then and thereafter from being forever stricken down. 
And it is a conviction in the minds of the Democracy of Ohio 
to-day that their manly nomination and support by speech, 
press and votes, and with their lives if necessary to ail exer- 
cise of their right to do so, of Mr. Vallandigham for Governor 
in 1863, did more than anything since the American Revolution 
of 1776 to establish the right of freemen to speak and vote 
their opinions on questions of common interest and concern. 

" The immense mass-meeting held at Mount Vernon, Ohio, 
on May-day, 1863, was not, however, held on Mr Vallan- 
dip-ham's suggestion, but at the instance of the Democracy of 
Knox County, of which Mount Vernon is the county scat. The 
Democratic people of the county called for the meeting with 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 249 

one accord. Hon. C. L. Vallandigliam, Hon. Geo. H. Pendle- 
ton, Hon. S. S. Cox, and many other eminent speakers (includ- 
ing, I think, Hon. D. W. Voorhees, of Indiana), were specially 
invited by the local committee. As the time for the meeting 
came near, Mr. Vallandigliam found he had made so many 
other engagements that it would not be convenient for him to 
be at the Mt. Vernon meeting, and this fact came to the know- 
ledge of the local committee. The members of this committee 
felt the keenest disappointment, and in fact alarm, at the 
information of Mr. Vallandigham's probable absence. They 
knew there would be an immense meeting, that it "would be 
clamorous for Mr. V. above everybody else, and that they (the 
members of the committee) would be severely criticised and 
censured for failing to procure Mr. V. as a speaker for the 
occasion. There was still another and stronger reason why 
Mr. V.'s presence w^as desired. A certain portion of the citi- 
zens of the county felt so indignant at the Abolition policy, the 
drafts and the arbitrary arrests and imprisonments by the 
Administration, that on the advice of indiscreet persons they 
were ready for opposition and even resistance of the most 
desperate nature. It was the good influence of Mr. Vallan- 
digliam to caution them against any such imprudence that 
made his presence and counsel so desirable and even requisite. 
L. Harper, Esq., editor of the Mt. Vernon Democratic Banner^ 
was therefore sent to meet Mr. Vallandigliam at the Neil 
House in Columbus to present the circumstances of the case as 
above stated, and not to take any refusal from Mr. V. to be 
present and make a speech. Mr. Harper took a note to Mr. 
V. from the writer of this letter (who was secretary of the 
meeting), urging him to come by all means for the reasons 
above stated. The consequence of these representations was 
that Mr. V. agreed with Mr. Harper to be on hand pi'ovided 
he was returned to Newark in the evening of the day of the 
meeting, so as to take a train from there and reach some other 
point in time to fulfil his next engagement. This agreement 
was executed accordingly. 

"Although I cannot recollect Mr. Vallandigham's words 
in his speech to the meeting, I have a distinct impression of 
the iact that he counselled the people to be firm but temperate 
ill their protests against the unwarrantable proceedings of the 
men temporarily invested with absolute power, and to trust.to 



250 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

W the sober second-thouglit and the might of the people through 
the ballot-box to vindicate their true principles and outraged 
representatives. 

" Other speakers at the meeting used stronger terms of de- 
nunciation than Mr. Y., and hence there was much surprise 
that he was singled out for tyrannic vengeance. From the 
flilse allegations of the infamous spies and informers on which 
he was arrested, the summary trial by a packed military com- 
mission, the so-called ' conviction contrary to the weight of 
evidence, and the sentence and exile, considered together, the 
inference was irresistible, in the minds of his friends at least, 
that his removal from before the people, to prepare the way for 
the complete intimidation and forcible and fraudulent crush- 
ing out of the people's views and votes which followed in the 
State and Presidential elections of 1863 and 1864, had been 
deliberately resolved upon as a political necessity." 

In the foregoing statement an important fact is developed 
to which we invite special attention. A prominent reason why 
the presence of Mr. Vallandigham was especially desired at 
this meeting was that he might caution certain persons who, 
becoming restive under the oppressions to which they were 
subjected, Avere in danger of breaking out into open resistance. 
It was supposed that a caution from him who was well known 
for his firmness and courage and determination, would have 
weight : and the evidence is that such caution was given ; that 
while he exhorted the people to stand firm in defence of their 
rights, he at the same time counselled them to be patient and 
forbearing, waiting for the " sober second-thought," and look- 
ins: to the ballot-box for a redress of their grievances. 

The following account of the meeting we take from the 
Democratic Banner of May 9th, published in Mount Vernon : 

" Friday, May 1st, 1863, was a proud and glorious day for 
the faithful and unconquerable Democracy of old Knox, and 
one that will long be remembered by them with high and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 251 

patriotic pleasure. Early in the morning the people began to 
come to town in wagons, carriages, and on horseback. Be- 
tween ten and eleven o'clock the processions from the several 
townships arrived, and took the places assigned them by the 
Marshals. The processions were composed of wagons, car- 
riages, buggies, &c., filled Avith people of both sexes and all 
ages, and of numerous horsemen. A remarkably large number 
of national flags, with all the stars of the Union as it was, on 
liickory poles, formed a very prominent and pleasing feature 
in each of these processions. A profusion of butternuts and 
liberty or co})perhead jjins. Union badges, and other ap})ropri- 
ate emblems of Liberty and Union, were also distinguishable 
features. 

'' Between eleven and one o'clock the township processions 
were united, and the grand procession filed through the prin- 
cipal streets of the city, making a splendid display. It was 
from four to five miles in length, and vras over two hours in 
passing any one jjoint. About 500 wagons, carriages, &c., 
came to town in the township processions, a number of which, 
however, dropped out of line before the grand procession was 
formed. The Democracy of the city displayed numerous flags 
on their private residences and places of business, and the pro- 
cessions heartily cheered them as they marched by them. The 
scene was beautiful and exciting, as well as vast, and caused all 
the good and true Union men v.'ho witnessed it to rejoice in 
their hearts with the fond hope for the salvation of their 
country, -well knowing that it is by the Democracy that this 
most desirable ol:)ject must and can be accomplished. The 
greatest enthusiasm was manifested throughout the entire line 
of procession. Cheers upon cheers rent the air in hearty ac- 
claim. The hearts and conscienc-js of those giving them were 
pure and clear, and the sounds were harmonious, peaceful, and 
patriotic. 

" One of the most noticeable and pleasing incidents of the 
procession and meeting, was a very large wagon drawn by six 
horses, from AVayne township, containing thirty-four yoimg 
ladies representing the thirty-four States of the Union. The 
wagon was tastefiilly shaded with evergreens, in which the 
thirty-four young ladies were embowered, 

"The principal stand from which Messrs. Yallandigham, 
Cox, and Pendleton spoke, ^vas canopied by large and beautiful 



252 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

American flags, and surrounded by various banners and 
emblems, all betokening the undying principles of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

" The tirst speaker introduced to the audience was the bold 
and fearless patriot and statesman, Hon. C. L. Yallandigham, 
Avho was received with such a shout of applause as fairly made 
the welkin ring. He proceeded to deliver one of the ablest 
and most inspiring true Union addresses ever made, in which 
he also evinced his unfaltering devotion to Liberty and the 
Constitution. INIanlincss, candor, genuine patriotism, and true 
statesmanship were manifested in the speaker throughout. If 
any of his lying detractors w^ere present, it must have struck 
them with overwhelming force, and caused them to wince with 
a sense of their foul slanders. Mr. Y. spoke for about two 
hours, and was listened to with the greatest attention, accom- 
panied with tremendous shouts of applause." 

A very interesting account of the meeting in a letter from 
Mt. Vernon, dated May 2d, was also published in the Columbus 
Crisis. The ^vriter says : — 

" In every point of view it was an unparalleled counti/ meet- 
ino-. Any fair estimate must put its numbers between fifteen 
and twenty thousand ! .... It being well known that Mr. 
Vallandigham had come, an immediate and general call was 
made forliim, and he was at once introduced to the vast assem- 
bly, which saluted him with three hearty cheers. Mr. Yallan- 
digham addressed the great multitude of people for about two 
hours, making a most able, eloquent, and truly patriotic speech. 
It was a noble and glorious eflfbrt in behalf of Liberty, Union 
and the Constitution, and was listened to with wrapt attention, 
interrupted only by frequent enthusiastic responses and applause. 
It must have left an ineffaceable impression upon the minds of 
all who heard it. He showed and established conclusively 
which was the true Union, and which the disunion party, by 
tracing the history and proceeding* of each from its origin to 
the present moment. The contrast between the life-long Union- 
ism of the Democratic party, and the original and continuous 
disunionisra of the Abolition party, was so glaring and true, 
that an Abolitionist with any degree of conscience must have 



LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 253 

felt confoundocl and abashed at the recital. . . . Mr. V. spoke 
in words of burning eloquence of the arbitrary measures and 
monarchical usurpations of the Administration, the disgraceful 
surrender of the rights and liberties of the people by the last 
infamous Congress, and the conversion of the Government into 
a despotism. No candid man, after hearing Mr.Vallandigham, 
can for a moment doubt his sincerity and patriotism. These 
attributes of the man stand out in bold prominence, and are so 
palpable as not to be drawn in question by any honest man of 
common sense. 

** It being apparent during the delivery of Mr. Vallan- 
digham's speech that it was quite impossible for even his 
strong and clear voice to reach the edges of the crowd, besides 
which ]\Iain street for several squares below was blocked with 
people, it was proposed to organise another meeting at the 
corner of Main and Vine streets, which was gladly accepted. 
A large meeting was there convened. This second meeting being 
found insufficient to accommodate the immense number of people, 
a third large meeting was organised farther down JNIain street, 
in front of the Franklin House. In the evening, about eight 
o'clock, still another large meeting, a considerable proportion of 
which was composed of ladies, filled the spacious Court-room." 

Such, somewhat abridged, arc the accounts of the great 
meeting at Mount Vernon on the first day of May, 1863. 
These accounts were written at the time, before any arrest was 
made, or suspicion that any would be made, for acts done or 
words spoken on that memorable occasion. And taking them 
to be true, as they most unquestionably are, what was the spirit, 
what was the character of those who composed the meeting? 
They were true patriots, loving the Union, supporting the 
Constitution, obedient to the laws — never for a moment sus- 
jjecting, Avhile they marched that day in procession, or stood 
before the speaker's stand, with the flag of their country wav- 
ing over their heads, and the fires of patriotism glowing in 
their hearts, that they were guilty of any ofience for which 



254 LIFE OF CLEMElsT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

they could be called to account in a land that professed to be 
free, and bv a party accustomed to boastingly blazon on their 
banners, '^Free soil, free speech, free men I " And so of the 
speakers who addressed them — Vallandigham, Cox, Pendleton, 
Kinney, Follet, Reamy, and others ; so far from being conscious 
of any wrong, they felt that as sentinels on the watch-tower of 
liberty they were performing a solemn duty in sounding the 
alarm and warning the people of approaching danger, firmly 
believing that '' eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," and 
clearly seeing that liberty was imjjcrilled by constant encroach- 
ments on the part of the Executive and military satraps under 
him on the constitutional rights of the people. 

The day after the meeting at Mt. Vernon ]\Ir. Vallandigham 
returned home, and immediately heard rumors of his intended 
arrest. Such rumors he had often heard before. To an arrest 
on process from legal authority he did jiot ol)ject ; nay more, 
he would have been j)leased to appear before a civil tribunal 
and answer to any charges that might be brought against him. 
But a forcible, illegal, military arrest he was determined to 
repel, and when on a former occasion lie had reason to appre- 
hend it, he had made preparation to resist by thoroughly 
arming himself and stationing armed guards of his friends 
within his house and without ; and for weeks at a time he sat 
up all night or lay down in his day-clothes in readiness to 
meet the minions of despotism, should they attempt to violate 
the sanctity of his dwelling. In a speech made on the 14th 
of the previous February in Newark, New Jersey, he thus 
refers to his feelings at that period : — 

" Have any of you known that most terrible of all sensa- 
tions, haunting 3'ou, walking with yon^ resting with 3'ou — the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 255 

apprelieusion of being arrested? Before God I never have 
been guilty of any oifence against the laws of my country, 
or the laws written by a higher power — except through the 
frailties of human nature; but I have learned in my own 
person what of all sensations is the most horrible and oppres- 
sive — the fear of arrest. I knew it when night after night 
in my own house — which one of the noblest of Englishmen, 
and which my father told me, which the Constitution of my 
country told me, was my castle — when night after night, 
from the setting of the sun, when the gray star-light 
gathered around that which ought to have been a peaceful and 
undisturbed home, until day dawned, I watched in pain for 
every footfall upon the pavement and the sound of every 
carriage that rumbled along the street, lest some execrable 
minion should dare to attempt to cross the threshold of that 
castle. And it was not in Austria that that happened, not in 
Russia, not in old Rome under Nero or Caligula, but in the 
United States of America, under Abraham Lincoln." 

As from day to day the rumors to which we have referred 
became more rife, the friends who in former times had nobly 
stood guard in and around his dwelling again proffered their 
services, but he declined. There had been so many false 
alarms that he had come to the conclusion that no attempt 
Avould be made to arrest him in his own house, and conse- 
quently not only waived the kind offers of his friends, but 
also relaxed his own accustomed vigilance. 

It was under these circumstances that on the evening of the 
4th of May, Mr. Vallandigham and his family, consisting at 
that time of his wife, son, his wife's sister, and a young nephew 
of his own, and two domestics, females both, retired to rest 
at their accustomed hour. At half-past two o'clock in the 
morning they were rudely awakened from slumber by a violent 
knocking upon the front door. Arising, Mr. Vallandigham, 
who did not immediately suspect that it was a force coming to 



256 LIFE OF CLEMEIs'T L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

arrest liim, ^vcllt to the front window of the room over the 
parlor. As he approached it he heard the tramp of armed 
men, the low voice of command given by officers, the rattling 
of arms, and mutterings and whispering of many people. 
Looking out, lights were seen gleaming amidst the shrubbery 
in the yard below, and the glittering of many bayonets shone 
bright from the gas-light near the house. As he threw open 
the shutters the sounds struck upon his wife's ears, and she 
screamed with aifright. He demanded what was wanted. 
Captain Hutton, an officer of General Burnside's staff, who was 
in command, answered that he had been sent l)y that General 
to arrest him, and that he might as well come down and sur- 
render. Mr. Vallandigham replied that he would not ; that 
he. Captain Hutton, had no right to arrest him, and that 
General Burnside had no right to issue an order for his 
arrest. To this a threat was made that unless he would come 
down he would be shot. He answered this in a defiant man- 
ner, and then shouted for the police. By this time the whole 
household was up ; his wife and sister-in-law, both very nervous, 
timid women, were weeping, nearly crazed by terror, and beg- 
ging him to come away from the window ; the servant girls 
were equally alarmed. After repeated threats to shoot, inter- 
mino-led with entreaties, the officer in command ordered the 
front door to be forced ; but it was found too strong, and a 
door in the rear was then attacked. The house now shook 
with the violent blows of axes upon the door, and the horrid 
clamor filled the hearts of the women with an agony of fear. 
At last the door gave way, and the rattling of ramrods and 
bayonets, as well as the half-suppressed oaths of the men as 
they rushed into the back parlor^ arose clearly and distinctly 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 257 

in the night air. Mr. Vallandigham still determined he would 
not surrender whilst there was any hope of rescue. He desired 
to delay the soldiery until some organised eifort could be made 
by his friends outside to drive off his assailants. He had 
dressed himself whilst the soldiers were bursting open the 
door below ; and he arranged with his nephew, who had served 
in the Union array, to open fire on the soldiers as soon as they 
should be attacked from the outside. Another demand to sur- 
render was sternly refused, and the soldiers mounted the stair 
and commenced battering away at the door of the room in 
which he stood. He then retired into another room which 
communicated with the one now attacked. In a few moments 
the second door was broken in, but lo ! the victim was not yet 
brought to bay. A short interval of silence followed, and Mr. 
y . endeavored to soothe the affrighted ladies whilst he anxiously 
listened for the sound of footsteps coming to his aid ; notliing, 
however, but the measured tread of the sentinels could be 
heard on the outside. The third door was now attacked, and 
as there was no chance of successful resistance, he concealed his 
revolver and calmly awaited the entry of the troops. The 
house was full of soldiers, though the officer in command had 
not entered, and directly the third door gave way the soldiers 
broke into the room where he stood, and half a score of mus- 
kets were pointed instantly at him. Thereupon he said : " You 
have now broken open my house and overpowered me by 
superior force, and I am obliged to surrender." The muskets 
were lowered, and hastily though not roughly he was torn from 
the arms of his devoted wife and weeping child and hurried 
down stairs. Leaving his wife stupefied in agony of grief and 
alarm, ho passed through the shattered panels of his doors into 
17 



258 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

the street. The bugles sounded the recall, and surrounded by 
soldiery he was marched rapidly to the depot, and thence carried 
by the special train to Cincinnati, where after daylight he was 
taken to the military prison, Kemper Barracks. 

The arrest and taking away of Mr. Yallandigham was made 
with the greatest expedition. Not more than thirty minutes 
ekpsed after the arrival of the special train from Cincinnati 
before the troops were back to the depot Avith the prisoner, and 
the train immediately moved off. It was daylight in Dayton 
before the news of the arrest had become generally known, 
although fire-bells were rung a short time after he was taken 
away from his house. 

The indignation aroused amongst the Democrats was fierce. 
Men with frownino; brows and clenched fists were to be seen all 
over the city. As the day advanced the excitement rapidly 
increased ; hundreds of men came in from the country around ; 
crowds began to gather. The denunciations of the arrest and 
of those concerned in it, became louder and more violent. 
Those who had been very bitter and proscriptive amongst the 
Republicans became alarmed, and some left the city as quietly 
and secretly as possible. Towards evening the storm burst : 
suddenly the Journal office, the Eepublican organ of the county, 
was surrounded by a mob of frantic men ; pistols and bowie 
knives gleamed. The office was attacked, its defenders fled ; 
it was completely gutted, everything in it broken up and 
ilestroyed ; the torch was then applied, and the sky was soon 
illuminated by the red light of blazing roofs. It was with the 
utmost difficulty that the Democratic leaders prevented the 
fiercely exasperated crowds from attacking and hanging promi- 
nent Republicans and from burning their dwelling-houses. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHA^I. 259 

The railroads leading to Dayton were torn up ; the telegraph 
wires were cut. It seemed as if a new civil war was impend- 
ing. But the mob was poorly armed, had no organization or 
discipline, and no support from any other portion of the State. 
The attack upon the liberties of the people had been so sudden 
and unexpected that no concert of action existed even in Mont- 
gomery County. Leading Democrats were wise enough to sec 
the folly of any warlike demonstration, that it would only lead to 
useless slaughter, and make bad worse. They exhorted the more 
imprudent to return to their homes, and succeeded in persuad- 
ing them to do no further acts endangering the peace of the 
city ; and when about ten o'clock the same night troops from 
Cincinnati and Columbus reached Dayton, they met with no 
resistance. 

In the meantime, Mr. Vallandigham, who reached Cincin- 
nati soon after daylight, had been taken immediately to the 
military prison, Kemper Barracks. Here he remained until 
evening, when by order of General Burnside, who had become 
greatly alarmed lest there should be a popular outbreak and 
attempt to rescue, he was hurried across the river to Newport 
Barracks, Kentucky, and there locked up for the night. The 
next morning he was taken back to Cincinnati and brought 
before the military commission. The same day, by Burnside's 
order, military arrests commenced in Dayton. More thau 
thirty citizens were arrested and dragged down to the military 
prisons at Cincinnati, and for six weeks every Democrat of 
Montgomery County was at the mercy of an inebriate military 
commandant. Burnside's own brutal conduct towards the 
prisoners was consistent with his real character. He visited 
them more than once with oaths and curses, and in one instance 



260 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

with blows vented liis rage upon them. Mr. Vallandigham, 
during the trial before the military commission, was placed in 
room No. 246, in the attic ; he was kept under a strong guard, 
who were ordered, in case of any attempt at rescue or escape, 
to put him to death. Similar orders had been issued to his 
captors previous to his arrest. A guard of soldiers with fixed 
bayonets and loaded muskets marched with Mr. V. to and from 
the Commission, and a squad of ten regulars kept watch day 
and night over his room, while sentinels paced the pavements 
below. Knowing that the object of his arrest was to intimidate 
the Democracy of the country, he took the earliest opportunity 
to write an address to the Democrats of Ohio, which is pre- 
sented below. He also desired the people to know that although 
ignorant of his fate, he was not alarmed nor over-awed by the 
danger staring him in the face, and he wished to encourage his 
friends to stand firm and not bend to the storm. He wrote 
this address in Kemper Barracks prison, and it was smuggled 
out by a relative who visited him whilst he was kept in the 
Burnett House, and immediately published to the world : — 

"Military Prison, ) 
Cincinnati, Ohio, May 5, 1863. y 

"To the Democracy of Ohio : — 

" I am here in a military bastile for no other offence than 
my political opinions, and the defence of them and of the 
rights of the people, and of your constitutional liberties. 
Speeches made in the hearing of thousands of you in de- 
nunciation of the usurpations of power, infractions of the 
Constitution and laws, and of military despotism, were the 
sole cause of my arrest and imprisonment. I am a Democrat 
— for Constitution, for law, for the Union, for liberty — this 
is my only ' crime.' For no disobedience to the Constitution ; 
for no violation of law; for no word, sign or gesture of 
sympathy with the men of the South, who are for disunion 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 261 

and Southern independence, but in obedience to their demand 
as well as the demand of Northern Abolition disunionists and 
traitors, I am here in bonds to-day ; but 

* Time, at last, sets all things even ! ' 

Meanwhile, Democrats of Ohio, of the Northwest, of the 
United States, be firm, be true to your principles, to the Con- 
stitution, to the Union, and all will yet be well. As for 
myself, I adhere to every principle, and will make good 
through imprisonment and life itself every pledge and dec- 
laration wliich I have ever made, uttered or maintained from 
the beginning. To you, to the whole people, to time, I again 
appeal. Stand firm ! Falter not an instant ! 

" C. L. Vallandigham." 



CHAPTER XII. 

TRIAL BEFORE MILITARY COMMISSIOlSr. 

The day after his arrest, Mr. Vallandighara was brought 
before a military commission for trial. The proceedings we 
give in full : 

"Cincinnati, 3Imj 6, 1863. 

" The Commission convened at ten o'clock a. m, 

"The Judge Advocate read the general order from the 
headquarters of the Department of the Ohio, appointing the 
following olFicers a commission to try all f>arties brought 
before it, and Mr. Vallandigham was asked whether he had 
any objections to offer to any member of the court. 

" The following officers compose the court : 

" Brig.-General R. B. Potter, President. 

" Captain J. M. Cutts, Judge Advocate. 

" Colonel J. F. DeCom-cy, Sixteenth Ohio Y. I. 

" Lieut.-Colonel E. R. Goodrich, Com. Sub. 

" Major Van Buren, A. D. C. 

" Major Brown, Tenth Kentucky Cavalry. 

" Major Fitch, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio V. I. 

" Captain Lydig, A. D. C. 

" Mr. Vallandigham said he was not acquainted with any 
of the members of the court, and had no objection to offer to 
them individually, but he protested that the commission had 
no authority to try him, he being neither in the land nor naval 
force of the United States, nor in the militia in the actual ser- 
vice of the United States, and was not therefore triable by such 
a court, but was amenable only to the judicial courts of the 
land. 

" The members of the court were then sworn to try his 
case impartially. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 263 

''The Judge Advocate then read the following charge and 
specification : 

" CHARGE. 

" Publicly expressing, in violation of General Orders No. 38, 
from headquarters, Department of the Ohio, his sympathies for 
those in arms against the Government of the United States, 
declaring disloyal sentiments and opinions, with the object and 
purpose of weakening the power of the Government in its 
efforts to suppress an unlawful rebellion. 

" SPECIFICATION. 

" In this, that the said Clement L. Vallandigham, a citizen 
of the State of Ohio, on or about the 1st day of May, 1863, at 
Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, did publicly address a 
large^ meeting of citizens, and did utter sentiments in words or 
in elfcct as follows : declaring the present war 'a Avicked, cruel 
and unnecessary war •/ ' a war not being waged for the preser- 
vation of the Union ; ' ^ a war for the purpose of crushing out 
liberty and erecting a despotism; ' /a war for the freedom of 
the blacks and tlic enslavement of the whites ; ' stating ' that 
if the Administration had so wished, the war could have been 
honorably terminated months ago;' that ^ peace might have 
been honorably obtained by listening to the proposed interme- 
diation of France ; ' that ' propositions by which the Southern 
States could be won back and the South be guaranteed their 
rights under the Constitution, had been rejected the day before 
the late battle at Fredericksburg, by Lincoln and his minions,' 
meaning thereby the President of the United States and those 
under him in authority. Charging that the ' Government of 
the United States were about to appoint military marshals in 
every district to restrain the people of their liberties, to deprive 
them of their rights and privileges.' Characterising General 
Order No. 38, from headquarters Department of the Ohio, as 
' a base usurpation of arbitrary authority ; ' inviting his hearers 
to resist the same by saying: 'The sooner the people inform 
the minions of usurped power that they will not submit to such 
restrictions upon their liberties the better ; ' declaring ' that he 
was at all times and upon all occasions resolved to do what he 
could to defeat the attempts now being made to build up a 
monarchy upon the ruins of our free government ; ' assertino- 



264 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

' that he firmly believed, as he said six months ago, that the 
men in power are attempting to establish a despotism in this 
country more cruel and more oppressive than ever existed 
before/ 

" All of which opinions and sentiments he w^ell knew did 
aid, comfort and encourage those in arms against the Govern- 
ment, and could but induce in his hearers a distrust of their 
own Government and sympathy for those in arms against it, 
and a disposition to resist the laws of the land. 

"J. M. CUTTS, 
" Captain Eleventh Infantry, Judge Advocate, Department of Ohio. 

" Mr. Vallandigham was asked by the Judge Advocate 
what his plea was. 

" Mr. Vallandigham refused to plead, and asked time to 
consult his counsel, and for process to compel the attendance of 
Fernando Wood, of New York city, who should be required to 
bring with him the letter which he received from Richmond in 
relation to terms offered for the return of Southern Senators to 
their seats in Congress, with the letter of the President declin- 
ing to entertain the proposition. 

" Mr. Vallandigham continuing to refuse to plead to the 
charge, the President directed that the j)lea of ' not guilty ' be 
entered on the record. 

" The Court then gave Mr. Vallandigham time to consult 
his counsel, and for that purpose ordered a recess to half-past 
one o'clock. 

" The Court tvas then cleared for deliberation, as to whether 
the delay asked for by Mr. Vallandigham should be granted, 
and remained closed until near noon. 

" The Court again met pursuant to adjournment, and the 
doors were opened. 

" The President asked Mr. Vallandigham whether he de- 
sired to appear with counsel. 

" Mr. Vallandigham said he did not. His counsel, George 
E. Pugh, George H. Pendleton, and Alexander Ferguson, re- 
mained in the adjoining room. 

" The Judge Advocate announced that the case would be 
proceeded with, and called the first witness for the prosecution. 

" Captain H. R. Hill, of the One Hundred and Fifteenth 
Ohio Volunteers, was sworn. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 265 

'^ Question hy Judge Advocate, — Were you present at a meet- 
ing of citizens at Mount Vernon on May 1, 1863 ? 

"Answer. — I was. 

" Q. — Did you hear accused address that meeting? 

"A— I did. 

" Q. — What position did you occupy at the meeting, and 
were you near enough to hear all he said? 

"A. — I was leaning against the end of the platform oi^ 
which he was speaking ; was about six feet from him ; I re- 
mained in this position during the whole time he was speaking. 

'* By Judge Advocate. — State what remarks he made in re- 
lation to the war ; what he said about the President of the 
United States and the orders of military commanders. 

" Witness. — In order that I may bring in events as they 
were referred to by the speaker, I ask permission of the court 
to refresh my memory from the notes which I took at the time. 

"President. — You can read from your notes. 

" Witness. — The speaker commenced by referring to the 
canopy under which he was speaking — the stand having been 
decorated with an Amencan flag — the flag under the Consti- 
tution. 

"Judge Advocate. — You need not give his introductory re- 
marks. Confine yourself to what he said about the war. 

" Witness. — After finishing his exordium he spoke of the 
designs of those in power being to erect a despotism. That it 
was not their intention to eftect a restoration of the Union. 
That jirevious to the battle of Fredericksburg an attempt Avas 
made to stay this wicked, cruel and unnecessary war. That 
the war could have been ended in February last. That a day 
or two before the battle of Fredericksburg a proposition had 
])een made for the re-admission of Southern Senators into the 
United States Congress, and that the refusal was still in exist- 
ence over the President's own signature, which would be made 
public as soon as the ban of secrecy imposed by the President 
was removed. That the Union could have been saved if the 
plan proposed by the speaker had been adopted; that the 
Union could have been saved upon the basis of reconstruction, 
but that it would have ended in the exile or death of those 
who advocated a continuance of the war. He then referred to 
Forney, who was a well-known correspondent of the Phila- 
delj)hia Press (and who had no right to speak for any but 



266 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

those who were connected vvith the Administration), who had 
said that some of our public men, rather than bring back some 
of the seceded States, would submit to a permanent separation 
of the Union. He stated that France, a nation that had always 
.shown herself to be a friend of our Government, had proposed 
to act as a mediator; but that her proposition, which, if 
accepted, might have brought about an honorable peace, was 
insolently rejected. 

" Mr. Vallandigham here corrected the witness. The word 
lie used was ' instantly,' not ' insolently.' 

" Witness. — I understood the word he used to have been 
' insolently.' That the people had been deceived ; that 20,000 
lives had been lost at the battle at Fredericksburg that might 
have been saved. In speaking of the objects of the war, he 
said it was a war for the liberation of the blacks and the 
enslavement of the whites. We had been told it would be 
terminated in three months ; then in nine months, and again 
in a year. That the war was still in progress, and that there 
was no prospect of its being ended. That Eichmond was 
theirs ; that Charleston and Vicksburg were theirs ; that the 
Mississippi was not opened, and would not be so long as there 
was cotton on its banks to be stolen, or so long as there were 
any contractors or officers to enrich. That a Southern paper 
had denounced him and Cox and the Peace Democrats as 
liaving done more to prevent the establishing of the Southern 
Confederacy than ten thousand soldiers could do. That they 
proposed to operate through the masses of the people in both 
sections who were in favor of the Union. That it was the 
purpose or design of the Administration to suppress or prevent 
such meetings as the one he was addressing. That military 
marshals were about to be appointed in every district, who 
would act for the purpose of restricting the liberties of the 
people ; but that he Avas a freeman. > That he did not ask 
David Tod, or Abraham Lincoln, or Ambrose E. Burnside for 
his right to speak as he had done and was doing. That his 
authority for so doing was higher than General Order No. 38 
— it was General Order No. 1 — the Constitution. That 
General Order No. 38 was a base usurpation of arbitrary 
power; that he had the most supreme contempt for such 
poAver. He despised it and spat upon it. He trampled it 
under his feet. That only a few days before, a man had been 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 267 

dragged from his home in Butler County by an outrageous 
usurpation of power and tried for an offence not known to our 
laws by a self-constituted court-martial — tried without a jury, 
which is guaranteed to every one ; that he had been fined and 
imprisoned. That two men were brought over from Kentucky 
and tried, contrary to express laws for the trial of treason, and 
were now under the sentence of death. That an order had 
just been issued in Indiana, denying to persons the right to 
canvass or discuss military policy, and that if it was sub- 
mitted to it would be followed up by a similar order in Ohio. 
That he was resolved never to submit to an order of a military 
dictator, prohibiting the free discussion of either civil or mili- 
tary authority. The sooner that the people informed the 
minions of this usurped power that they would not submit to 
such restrictions upon their liberties, and they would not cringe 
and cower before such authority, the better. Let them not be 
deluded by the image of liberty Avhen the spirit is gone. He 
proclaimed the right to criticise the acts of our military ser- 
vants in power. That there never was a tyrant in any age 
who oppressed the people further than he thought they would 
submit to endure. That in the days of Democratic authority 
Tom Corwin had in face of Congress hoped that our brave 
volunteers in Mexico ' might be welcomed with bloody hands 
to hospitable graves,' but that he had not been interfered with. 
It was never before thought necessary to appoint a captain of 
cavalry as Provost Marshal, as was now the case in Indiana- 
polis, or military dictators as were now exercising authority in 
Cincinnati and Columbus. That a law had recently been 
enacted in Ohio, as well as in some other States, regulating the 
manner in whicli soldiers should vote ; that the officers have to 
be judges of the election. 

" The Judge Advocate objected to this part of the testimony 
as irrelevant. 

" Mr. Vallandigham desired the court to permit the witness 
to go on with his testimony. 

" Witness. — The speaker closed by warning the people not 
to be deceived. That an attempt would shortly be made to 
enforce the conscription law, and to remember that the war was 
not for the preservation of the Union, but that it was a wicked 
Abolition war, and that if those in authority were allowed to 
accomplish their jnirposes, the people would be deprived of 



268 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

their liberties, and a monarchy established ; but as for him he 
was resolved that he would never be a priest, to minister at the 
altar on which his country was being sacrificed. 

^'Question by Judge Advocate. — What other flags or em- 
blems were used in decorating the stage ? 

"J.. — There were banners made of frame work, and 
covered with canvas, which were decorated with butternuts and. 
bore inscriptions. One banner, which was carried at the head 
of a delegation which came in from a town in the country, 
bore the inscription, ^The copperheads are coming.' 

"Mr. Vallandigham.^—The South never carried copper 
cents. 

" Judge Advocate. — But butternuts are a Southern emblem. 

" Mr. Yallandigham shook his head, and said they were 
not. 

" Question by Judge Advocate. — Did you see any persons 
having emblems on their persons ? 

"A. — Yes; I saw hundreds of persons wearing butternut 
and copperhead badges. 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — The copper badges were simply the 
head cut out of the common cent coins, with pins attached, 

"J/r. Vallandigham. — Did you notice what inscription 
these copperhead badges bore? 

" A. — No ; I did not look at them. 

"3£v. Vallandigham. — The inscription on them was ' Lib- 
erty.' 

" Question by Judge Advocate. — Did you hear any cheers in 
the crowd for Jeff. Davis ? 

^' 3Ir. Vallandigham. — That is not in the specification. 

« A. — I did not hear cheers for Jeff. Davis, but I heard a 
shout in the crowd that ' Jeff. Davis was a gentleman, and that 
was more than the President was.' 

"cross-examined by MR. VALLANDIGHAM. 

« Q. — Did not I refer in my speech to the Crittenden Com- 
promise propositions, and condemn their rejection ? 

" As the witness Avas about answering, the Judge Advocate 
objected to the question, on the ground that it was bringing in 
matter foreign to the charge and specification. The court al- 
lowed the question to be answered.. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 269 

"A. — When endeavoring to show that the party in power 
had not the restoration of the Union in view in conducting the 
war, and that that was not their object, he stated a number of 
means by which that could have been accomplished ; and from 
the fact that none had been adopted, he considered it proof that 
the restoration of the Union was not the object for which the 
war was being waged. 

" Q. — Did I not quote Judge Douglass's declaration that 
""^ — rthe rejection — 

" 3L\ VaUandigham. — I desire to prove that in my speech I 
stated that Mr. Douglass had said that the responsibility for the 
rejection of the Crittenden proposition was with the Republican 
party. 

" The Judge Advocate stated that his objection was that the 
question was bringing in political opinions and discussions with 
which the court had nothing to do. 

" The room was cleared for deliberation and the doors closed. 

" After an interval of fifteen minutes the doors were again 
opened, and then the Judge Advocate announced that the ques- 
tion would not be admitted. 

"Q. — When speaking in connection with Forney's Press, 
did I not say that if other Democrats in Washington and myself 
had not refused all idea and suggestions of some prominent 
men of the party in power to make peace on terms of disunion, 
that I believe the war would have been ended in February ? 

^'A. — When speaking of the propositions before referred to, 
and that this war was not being carried on for the restoration 
of the Union, he stated that if the Democracy in Washington 
had united in a plan for the permanent separation of the Union, 
it would have been accomplished in February. 

"Q.— Did I not refer expressly to myself in that connection, 
and say that I had refused and always would refuse to agree 
to a separation of the States — in other words, on peace terms 
of disunion ? 

"A. — Well, that idea is not exactly as it was expressed. 
He stated something to that eifcct. That he wished to have a 
voice in the manner in which the Union was to be reconstructed, 
and that our Southern brethren should also have a voice in the 
matter. 

" Q. — Referring to the Richmond Enquirer article, did I not 
say that it, Jeif. Davis's organ, had called Dictator Lincoln to 



270 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

lock up Mr. Cox, Senator Richardson, and myself in one of 
his military prisons, because of our doing so much against 
Southern recognition and independence ? 
"A. — That is substantially what he said. 
" Q. — Referring to General Order No. 38, did I not say that 
in so far as it undertook to subject citizens not in the land or 
naval forces of the United States, or militia of the United 
States in actual service, to trial by court-martial or military 
commission, I believed it to be unconstitutional and a usurpa- 
tion of arbitrary power ? 

"A. — Yes, except in the words ' in so far.' 

" Q. — Referring to two citizens of Kentucky tried by mil- 
itary court in Cincinnati, did I not say that what they were 
charged with was actual treason, punishable by death, and that 
if guilty, the penalty by statute was hanging, and they ought 
to be hung, after being tried by a judicial court and a jury; in- 
stead of which they had been tried by a military court, as I 
understood, and sentenced to fine and imprisonment — one of 
them $300 fine ? 

"A. — I don't think he put those ' ifs ' in. I think he said 
they were improperly tried, and by a usurpation of power. 

" Mr. Yallandigham. — Strike out the ' ifs' then. 

" Witness. — That Avas substantially what he said. 

" Q. — Did I not also say in that connection that the rebel 
officer who was tried as a spy by the military court at Cincin- 
nati was legally and properly tried, according to the rules and 
articles; tried and convicted — that that was a clear case, 
where the Court had jurisdiction ? 

"A. — It is my recollection that he denounced the Court as 
an unlawful tribunal, and did not make the distinction. 

" Question hy Judge Advocate. — Did he refer to the case of 
Campbell, the rebel spy, and make any distinction ? 

^^A. — No. He denounced the Court first and then gave 
the instances, which I have already related in my direct testi- 
mony. 

^^ Question by Mr. Vallandigham. — Do you not remember 
my speaking of the Campbell case, and saying that he was 
properly tried ? 

"^. — He may, but I do not recollect it. He probably did 
refer to the Campbell case. 

" Q. — May I not have made the distinction and you not 
have heard it ? 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 271 

"The Judge Advocate said he would admit that the accused 
did draw the distinction between the cases, and that he ad- 
mitted the right of the Court to try the spy. In other words, 
that he condemned the trial of the Butler County man, and 
approved the case of the spy who was tried and convicted. 

" Q. — Did I not distinctly in the conclusion of the speech 
enjoin upon the people to stand by the Union at all events, 
and that if war failed, not to give the Union up, but to try by 
peaceable means, by compromise, to restore it as our fathere 
made it ; and that though others might consent or be forced 
to consent, I would not myself be one of those who would 
take any part in agreeing to a dissolution of the Union? 

"^. — Yes. He said that he and the peace men were the 
only ones who wished the restoration of the Union. 

"Q. — Did not one of the banners you refer to as decorated 
with butternuts bear the inscription, 'The Constitution as it 
is, and the Union as it was ' ? 

'A. — The banners were numerous. One of them, I be- 
lieve, did bear that inscription. 

^Q. — Do you mean to be understood to say that he heard 
the reference to Jeff. Davis in the crowd, or gave any assent to 
it whatever ? 

"A. — I cannot say that he did. Did not see or hear him 
give any assent to it. There were many other remarks of that 
character uttered. 

"§ — What was the size of the crowd assembled there? 

"A. — I do not know the proper estimate, but the crowd 
was very large. 

" The Court then adjourned to Thursday morning at ten 
o'clock. 

"second day 

"The Court met at ten o'clock a. m. Present as before. 
Yesterday's proceedings and testimony were read and approved, 
and were signed by the President. 

" Captain Hill was again called to the stand, and his cross- 
examination was resumed by Mr. Vallandigham. 

''Question by Mr. Vallandigham. — In speaking of the 
character of the war, did I not expressly say, 'As Mr. Lincoln 
in his proclamation of July ] , 1862, said, "this unnecessary and 
injurious war"?' 



272 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"Answer. — I don't recollect that he did. The language 
made use of I understood to be his own, 

"il/r. Vallandigham. — Of course I could not put the quo- 
tation marks in my speech. 

"^. — Again, in speaking of the character of the war, did I 
not expressly give as proof, the President's proclamation of 
Sept. 22, 1862, and Jan. 1, 1863, as declaring the emancipa- 
tion of the slaves in the seceded States, and as proof that the 
war was now being waged for that purpose ? 

" The witness was about to answer when the Judge Advo- 
cate checked him. He said it was bringing up matters which 
were foreign to the charge and specification, and that the Court 
was not called upon to pass upon the merits of the President's 
proclamation. He then desired that the Court should be 
closed for deliberation. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — I desire to show this fact, in explan- 
ation of the purpose and object of my declaration as to the 
present character of the war, and as my authority for the 
statement ; for I assume that the President is not disloyal. 

" The Judge Advocate insisted that the question required 
the Court to pass judgment upon the merits of the President's 
proclamation, and not whether he Q,Iy. Vallandigham) was 
expressing his own sentiments or those of the President. 

" After the Commission had deliberated, the Judge Advo- 
cate said the question would not be admitted. 

" Q^ — Did you continue in the same place during the 
delivery of the whole speech .'' 
« A.—l did. 

" Q. — Were your notes taken at the time, or reduced to 
writing after the speech was delivered ? 

" A. — They were taken at the time, just as they fell from 
the speaker's lips. 

" Q, — Were you not in citizen's clothes, and how came you 
to be at Mount Vernon that day? Did you go to Mount 
Vernon for the j)urpose of taking notes and reporting the 
speech ? 

" Judge Advocate. — I object to this question on the ground 
of its immateriality. 

" Mr. Vallandigham insisted on the question on the ground 
that it explained the temper and spirit of the witness, and Iiis 
prejudices, and as showing that the notes were taken with ref- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 273 

erence to the arrest and prosecution before this Commission, 
he being a captain in the service, and his regiment in Cin- 
cinnati. 

" The question was objected to by the Judge Advocate, and 
the Court was cleared for deliberation. 

" On oi^ening the doors again the Judge Advocate answered 
that the question would be allowed. 

"A. — I was in citizen's clothes, and went for the purpose of 
listening to any speeches that might be made that day. I had 
no orders to take notes. 

"Q. — Did you take notes of any other speech? 

"A.- — I commenced taking notes of Mr. Cox's speech, but 
considered it harmless, and after a short time stopped. 

" Q. — Were you not expressly sent for the purpose of listen- 
ing to my speech on that occasion? 

"A. — I was not, any more than to the others. 

" Q. — By whom were you sent ? 

"A. — By Captain Andrew C. Kemper, Assistant Adjutant 
General of the military command of this city. 

" Q. — Did you make a report to him upon your return ? 

"A. — I didn't report to Captain Kemper, but to Colonel 
Eastman, and was from there sent to the headquarters of the 
Department of the Ohio. 

" This closed the testimony of Captain Hill on both the 
direct and cross-examination. 

"Captain John A. Means, One Hundred and Fifteenth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was sworn. 

"testimony of captain JOHN A. MEANS. 

"Question hij the Judge Advocate. — What is your rank and 
regiment ? 

"A. — Captain in the One Hundred and Fifteenth O. V. I. 

" Q. — Were you present at the meeting of citizens at Mount 
Yernon, Ohio, on Friday, May 1, 1863? 

"yl.— I was. 

" Q. — Did you hear the accused address that meeting ? 

"A. — I did. I stood most of the time about ten feet imme- 
diately in front of the stand and heard the whole of the speech. 
He said that the war was not carried on for the preser\'ation 
of the Union; tliat it might have been stopped and peace 
restored some time ago and the Union saved, if the plan which , 

18 



274 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

had been submitted had been accepted by the Government the 
day before the battle of Fredericksburg. 

" Mr. Vallandigham objected to anything on this last point 
on the ground that he had applied for a subpoena for Fernando 
Wood, of New York, to bring with him the plan proposed, and 
had been refused. 

"The Judge Advocate replied that this point might be 
waived, and he would strike from the specifications what related 
to the proposed plan of restoring the Union. 

" The witness continued : That if the plan had been adopted, 
peace would have been restored, the Union saved by reconstruc- 
tion, the North w^on back and guaranteed in her rights. That 
our armies didn't meet with success ; that Richmond was not 
taken, Charleston, nor Vicksburg ; that the Mississippi was not 
open, and would not be as long as there was cotton to sell or con- 
tractors to reward. He spoke in regard to the rebuke of the 
Administration at the last fall election ; that no more volunteers 
could be had; that the Administration had to resort to the 
French conscription act ; that he wcJuld not counsel resistance 
to the military or civil law, for that was not needed. That a 
people were unworthy to be freemen Avho would submit to such 
encroachments on their liberties. 

" Mr. Vallandigham. — What was I referring to when I 
made the remark you say I did ? 

" A. — He was speaking of the conscription act. He said 
he believed the Administration was attempting to erect a des- 
potism ; that in less than one month Lincoln had plunged the 
country into this cruel, bloody, and unnecessary war. 

" Q. — Can you recall anything he said in relation to Gen- 
eral 'Order No. 38 ? 

" A. — He said the General Order No. 38 was a usurpation 
of power ; that he despised it, spat upon it, trampled it under 
his feet ; that he, for one, would not regard it. He styled the 
Administration officers, and officers of the army, as minions of 
the Administration. He said he did not ask General Ambrose 
Burnside whether he might speak there or not ; that he was a 
freeman, and spoke when and where he pleased. 

" Q. — Do you remember anything he said with reference to 
the course he advised the people to pursue ? 

" A. — He said these proclamations and military orders were 
intended to intimidate the people, and prevent, them from 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 275 

mingling together as they were doing that day ; that lie claimed 
the right to discuss and criticise the actions of the civil and 
military officers of the Government. 

" Q. — Did he advise the people to take any steps ? 

" A. — He advised them, at the close of his speech, to come 
up together at the ballot-box, and hurl the tyrant from his 
throne. He styled the President at another time as 'King 
Lincoln.' 

" CROSS-EXAMINATIOX. 

" Q. — By Mr. Vallandigham : Did you take any notes 
during the delivery of the speech, or are you testifying from 
memory ? 

^' A. — I took no minutes during the delivery of the speech; 
but after Mr. Pendleton began speaking I went to the hotel, 
perhaps an hour and a half afterwards, and wrote some 
minutes of the speech. 

" Q. — You speak of my saying that 'the North might 
have been won back ; ' was it not the South might have been 
won back? 

"^. — No; I noticed that particularly, and it struck me 
very forcibly. 

" [ ilfr. Vallandigham, — If I said it, it must have been a slip 
of the tongue.] 

" Q. — You say that I said I would not counsel resistance 
to military or civil law* Did I not expressly counsel the 
people to obey the Constitution and all law, and to pay proper 
respect to men in authority, and to maintain their political 
rights through the ballot-box, and redress personal wrongs 
through the judicial tribunals of the country, and in that way 
to rebuke and put down the Administration and all usurpa- 
tions of power? 

''A. — Not in that connection. He said, at the last of his 
speech, to come up to the ballot-box and hurl the tyrant from 
his throne. 

" Q. — Did he not counsel them to submit to all laws? 

" A. — No, Sir ; I didn't understand him to counsel the 
people to submit to the authorities at all times. I can't re- 
member that he used the language of the question, or the sub- 
stance of it as stated. 

" Q.— Did I not say that my authority to speak to the 



276 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

people in public assemblages, on all public questions, was not 
derived from General Order No. 38, but General Order No.' 
1, the Constitution of the United States, General Washington 
commanding ? 

"A. — I understood him to say that his authority to speak 
to the people was higher than General Order No. 38 of that 
mobbing despot. General Burnside ; it was Order No. 1, signed 
by George Washington. 

" Q. — Were not the three names of Tod, Lincoln, and Burn- 
side used together, and that I didn't ask their consent to speak ? 

" A. — At another time he used these words. 

" Q. — Were not the remarks you say I made about des- 
pising, spitting upon, and trampling under foot, expressly 
applied in reference to arbitrary power generally ; and did I 
not in that connection refer to General Order No. 9, in Indiana] 
signed by General Haskall, denying the right to criticise the 
war policy of the Administration ? 

" A. — The remarks in regard to despising, spitting upon, 
trampling under foot, were made in direct reference to Order 
No. 38. He some time afterwards, in speaking of the Admin- 
istration, said that an order had been issued in Indiana denying 
the people the right to criticise the military policy of the 
Administration, and if submitted to it would be followed by 
civil war in Ohio. 

"^. — Do you undertake to give any connected or metho- 
dical statement of the speech on that occasion ? 

"Judr/e Advocate. — The Court can judge as to that point; 
but he may ans\ver. 

"A. — I do not pretend to give the speech commencing Avith 
the first and giving it just as he spoke it. 

'' Mr. Vallandigham then asked the same questions as he 
asked the former witness, with reference to the way in which 
he went to the meeting, and in addition, whether he went there 
to report the speech for the purpose of a prosecution under 
General Order No. 38. 

"J..— I did not. 

" Q. — Were any reasons given you why you should go there 
to report the speech ? 

*' The Judge Advocate objected to such questions, for the 
reason that they were evidently intended for some other pur- 
pose than to subserve the ends of justice in the trial. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 277 

"Q. — I will jmt the question in this way, then: AVas any 
object stated to you, and if so, what ? 

"^. — There was no object stated. 

" The Judge Advocate here rested his evidence. 

" Mr. Vallandigham asked a recess of fifteen minutes, for 
the purpose of consultation with his laAvyers, at the close of 
which he proceeded with the testimony on his behalf. 

"testimony of HON. S. S. COX. 

" Q. — By Mr. Vallandigham. — Were you present at the 
public meeting in Mount Vernon on Friday, May 1, 1863 ? 

"-4. — I was present as one of the speakers; I heard the 
whole speech ; I stood on the platform near him, so that I 
could not fail to hear all that he said ; I had not heard him 
speak since the adjournment of Congress, and, as I came in 
from the West, I did not know he was there ; I took especial 
interest in listening to his speech throughout; and having to 
follow him, I naturally noticed the topics which he discussed. 

" Q. — Did you hear his allusions to General Burnside, 
and, if so, what were they ? 

"J.. — The only allusion that he made to the General was, 
I think, in the beginning of his speech, in which he said that 
he was not there by the favor of Abraham Lincoln, David 
Tod, or General Ambrose E. Burnside. 

" Q- — Was any epithet applied to him during the speech ? 

"■^. — No, Sir. If there had been, I should have noticed 
it, because General Burnside was an old personal friend of 
mine. I should have remembered any odious epithet applied 
to him. 

" Q. — Did you hear the reference to General Order 38, and 
if so, what were the words ? 

"-4. — The only reference that was made to that order was 
something to this. effect: that he didn't recognise — I don't 
know that I can quote the language — Order No. 38 as su- 
perior to Order No. 1, the Constitution, from George Wash- 
ington, commanding ; I don't know as this is the language ; I 
thought it a very handsome point at the time. 

" Q. — Were any violent epithets, such as ' spit upon,' 
'trample under foot,' and the like, used at any time in the 
speech in reference to that Order 38. 



278 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"A. — I can't recollect any denunciatory epithets applied to 
that order. If there was any criticism made upon it, it was 
mentioned above, in the remark about the Constitution. Mr. 
Vallandigham discussed these matters very briefly. He took 
up most of his time on another point, in connection Avitli the 
question of closing the war by separation. He charged that 
the men in authority were willing to make a peace by separa- 
tion. He exhausted some time in reading proofs from Mont- 
gomery Blair, and from Forney ; and also stated that there 
Avere private proofs yet to be developed, and which time would 
disclose, proving his statement. He bitterly denounced any 
attempt to make peace by a separation of the States. 

"Q. — Do you remember to what, if at all, in connection 
with future usurpations of power, he applied his strongest 
language ? 

"A.— I can't say as to the strongest language, for he always 
speaks pretty strongly. He denounced any usurpation of 
power to stop public discussion and the suffrage. He appealed 
to the people to protect their rights as the remedy for their 
grievances. He warned against violence and revolutions. By 
the powerful means of the ballot-box all might be remedied 
that was wrong of a j)ublic nature, and the courts would remedy 
all grievances of a jirivate personal nature. 

"§. — Was anything said by him at all looking to forcible 
resistance of either law or military orders ? 

"A. — Not as I understood it. 

"Q. — Was anything said by him in denunciation of the 
conscription law? 

"J.. — ]My best recollection is that he didn't say a word 
about it. 

" Q. — Did he refer to the French conscription bill ?, 

"A. — He did not. I spoke of it myself. 

"The Judge Advocate objected to what Mr. Cox had said, 
'&s not being competent evidence. 

" Mr. Cox desired to say to the Court, in explanation of 
what he said about the Conscription law, that he had just 
before the meeting been talking with Judge Bartley about our 
Conscription law having been copied from the French law, and 
I merely referred to that in my speech. 

"Q. — By Mr. Vallandigham. — Do you remember my quot- 
ing from President Lincoln's proclamation of July 1, 1862, the 
words ' unnecessary and injurious war ' ? 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 279 

"A. — I do not. He may have done so, but I did not hear it. 

" Q. — By Mr. Vallandigham. — Did you hear similar lan- 
guage used by me ? 

" A. — I cannot recollect it. 

" Q. — Do you remember his comments on the change of the 
2)olicy in the war ? 

" A. — He did refer to the change in the policy of the war, 
and devoted some time to showing that it was now carried on 
for the abolition of slavery ; that it had been perverted from a 
war for the j^reservation of the Union to one for the abolition 
of slavery. He referred to the Crittenden resolution to show 
that the war was originally for the restoration of the Union. 

" Q. — By 3I)\ Vallandigham. — Did I counsel any other 
mode in that speech of resisting usurpations of arbitrary 
power, except by free discussion and the ballot-box ? 

" ^.— He did not. 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — As I understand that portion of the 
specification which relates to the proposition from Eichmond 
has been stricken out, I will ask no questions about it. 

" Q. — Was any denunciation of officers in the army indulged 
in by him, or any offensive epithets applied to them ? 

" A. — When, occasionally, he used the words, ' the Pres- 
ident and his minions,' I didn't understand him to use them 
as applicable to the army. I think it was in connection with 
arbitrary arrests when he used these words. 

" Q' — Was it not in connection with army contractors and 
speculators ? 

" The Judge Advocate objected to the question, and said 
the witness had distinctly stated that he did not think Mr. 
Vallandigham had applied it to the officers of the army. 

" Q. — Do I understand you to say that the denunciations 
to which you refer were chiefly in reference to arbitrary 
arrests ? 

" A. — My recollection is that that was the connection in 
which it was used. He used strong epithets towards spies 
and informers, and did not seem to like them very much. 

" 3Ir. Vallayidigham. — As the Court has admitted that I did 
make a distinction between the Butler County case and the 
Kentucky spy, I will not refer to it now. 

" Q. — Do you remember the connection in which words to 
this effect were used at the close of the speech : J in regard to 



280 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

the possibility of a dissolution of the Union ' and of his own 
determination in regard to such a contingency, ' and his de- 
clining to act as a priest ' ? 

" A. — I cannot give the exact words, but I remember the 
metaphor, ' that he would not be a priest to minister at the 
altar of disunion.' It was as he wound up his speech. He was 
speaking about disunion, and his attachment to the Union. 

" Q, — What counsel did he give the people on the subject 
of the Union at the close of his speech ? 

"A. — He invoked them under no circumstances to surren- 
der the Union. I think he said something about leaving it to 
our posterity. 

('Q^ — Do you remember his rebuke of arbitrary court- 
martials, and was it in connection with the Butler County 



case 



9 



"A. — Yes; I so understood it. 

" Q. — What Avas the general character of his remarks on 
that subject ? 

"A. — He denounced the applause of Jefferson Davis by 
that party, and said there was a mode by which this man could 
be tried. 

" Mr. Vallandigham asked whether the rebuke had not re- 
ference to and was spoken in connection with the Butler County 
case ? He desired a distinct answer to this. 

" Mr. Cox. — He was speaking of the Butler County case, 
and he pointed out a mode by which such a man could be 
tried. 

" Q. — Was anything said in his speech in reference to the 
war except in condemnation of what he claimed to be the 
policy upon which it is now being waged, and as a policy 
which he insisted could not restore the Union, but must end 
finally in disunion ? 

" A. — I can only give my understanding. I do not know 
what inference other people might draw from it. I understood 
his condemnation of the Avar to be launched at the perversion 
of its original purpose. 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — I do not remember anything further 
just now. I have some other Avitnesses Avhom I desire to ex- 
amine on this same point Avho are not yet here. 

" Judge Advocate. — I have no questions to put to the wit- 
ness. 



LIFE OF CLEAIENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 281 

" To 3Ir. VaUandigham. — Has not this witness sufficiently 
developed the purpose and spirit of your speech ? 

" 3Ir. VaUandigham. — I have called but one witness, and 
I understand the Court has several more to corroborate what 
their first witness has testified. 

" Judge Advocate. — The Court will not be influenced by the 
number of witnesses. The number had nothing to do with 
the case. 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — I did not counsel any resistance in 
my speech, and there were three witnesses on the stand, one of 
whom was the presiding officer, and one a reporter, who is ac- 
customed to reporting speeches, though he did not report on 
that occasion, whom I have telegraphed for, and expect here at 
4 p. M. 

" The Judge Advocate suggested that INIr. Pendleton, who 
was now present, was at the meeting at Mount Vernon, and 
that he might be called to the stand. 

"Mr. VaUandigham. — Mr. Pendleton has been engaged in. 
this case, and I would prefer not to call him, as I have other 
witnesses. I also desire to show that the criticisms in my 
speech were not in reference to General Order No. 38. 

" Judge Advocate. — The witness has just said so. 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — If the Court will admit that, then 
I will not call other witnesses. 

" Judge Advocate. — I will admit that the language might 
not have been used, especially tovrards General Order No. 38 ; 
but it has been proved that such language was used in the 
Mount Vernon speech in reference to military orders. 

" Mr. VaUandigham. — I want to prove that it was not used 
in relation to General Order No. 38. 

" Judge Advocate. — I will admit that the language was not 
used in regard to General Order No. 38, but generally to 
military orders. 

" Mr. VaUandigham said he desired time to prepare a 
defence covering this testimony, and would, according to the 
rules governing courts-martial, submit it in writing. 

" The Judge Advocate said he might cover one hundred or 
two hundred pages of foolscap in reviewing the case, and this 
would take time. He [tlie Judge Advocate] did not propose 
to say anything on the evideucc, but would leave it with tne 
Court. Mr. VaUandigham might say what he desired in 



282 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

defence verbally, and it could be reported in short-hand, and 
thus save time. 

" Mr. y allandigham preferred to have the record correct, as 
it would have to go before another tribunal. 

" The Court then took a recess to half-past four o'clock. 

" The Court reconvened at five p. m. 

"The Judge Advocate stated that .the witnesses for the 
accused, who were expected — namely: Leckey Harper, J. T. 
Irvine, and Frank H. Hurd — had not arrived, and that he had 
agreed with the accused to admit, as it would avoid a continu- 
ance, that if they were present and under oath they would 
testify substantially the same as Mr. Cox had done. 

"Thereupon Mr. Vallandigham said he had no more testi- 
mony to offer, and the case closed. 

" The Judge Advocate now announced that the testimony 
was all in. . 

"At the. request of Mr. Vallandigham, the testimony of 
Mr. Cox was read over. 

" 3Ir. Vallandigham. — Gentlemen of the Court, very briefly 
and respectfully I offer the following protest: 

"MR. VALLANDIGHAM's PROTEST. 

c/ / 

^ " Arrested without process of law, without warrant from 
any judicial officer, and now in military custody, I have been 
served with a charge and specifications as from a court-martial 
or military commission. I am not in either the land or the 
naval service of the United States, and therefore am not triable 
for any cause by such court, but am subject, by the express 
terms of the Constitution, to arrest only by due process of law, 
or warrant issued by some officer of a court of competent juris- 
diction for trial of citizens. I am subject to indictment and 
trial on presentation of a grand jury, and am entitled to a 
speedy trial, to be confronted with witnesses and to compulsory 
process for witnesses in my behalf, and am entitled to counsel. 
All these I demand, as my right as a citizen of the United 
States. But the alleged oftence itself is not known to the Con- 
stitution, nor to any law thereof. It is words spoken to the 
people of Ohio in an open public political meeting, lawfully 
and peacefully assembled, under the Constitution, and upon 
full notice. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 283 

'' It is words of criticism of the public policy, of the public 
servants of the peof)le, by which policy it was alleged that the 
welfare of the country was not promoted. It was an appeal to 
the people to change that l^olicy, not by force but by free elec- 
tions and the ballot-box. It is not pretended that I counselled 
disobedience to the Constitution or resistance to law or lawful 
authority. I never have, I have nothing further to submit. 

(Signed) C. L. Vallandigham. \/^ 

May 7. 

'^ Judge Advocate. — I find nothing in the defence of the 
accused to call for remark, except that in regard to counsel and 
summoning of witnesses. He was permitted to have, and did 
have counsel to consult with, and an opportunity was offered 
him to send for witnesses. 

" The Court was then cleared for deliberation, and after a 
session of three hours, their decision was made and submitted 
to General Burnside for his approval. 

"finding and sentence. 

" The Commission, after mature deliberation on the evidence 
adduced and the statement of the accused, find the accused, 
Clement L. Vallandigham, a citizen of the State of Ohio, as 
follows : 

"Of the specifications (except the words, ' That propositions 
by which the Northern States could be won back, and the 
South guaranteed their rights under the Constitution, had been 
rejected the day before the battle of Fredericksburg, by Lincoln 
and his minions,' meaning thereby the President of the United 
States, and those under him in authority, and the words ^ as- 
serting that he firmly believed, as he asserted six months ago, 
that the men in power are attempting to establish a despotism 
in this country, more cruel and more oppressive than ever 
existed before,') — ' Guilty.' 

" And as to these words, ' Not Guilty.' 

" Of the charge, ' Guilty.' 

"And the Commission do therefore sentence liim, tne said 
Clement L. Vallandigham, a citizen of the State of Ohio, to 
be placed in close confinement in some fortress of the United 
States, to be designated by the commanding officer of this 
Department, there to be kept during the continuance of the 
war. 



284 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" II. The proceedings, finding, and sentence in the fore- 
going case are approved and confirmed, and it is directed that 
the place of confinement of the prisoner, Clement L. Vallan- 
digham, in accordance with said sentence, be Fort AVarreu, 
Boston Harbor. 

"By command of Major-General Burnside, 

"Lewis Richmoxd, 
"Ass't. AJj.-GemraV 

And now a few words in reference to the character of this 
Military Commission by which Mr. Vallandigham was tried. 
One only of the members was a citizen of Ohio; one was an 
unnaturalised foreign adventurer; another had been convicted 
of being the keeper of a disreputable house, while the Judge 
Advocate subsequently pleaded guilty to certain " nimble caper- 
ings " at the transom- light of a lady^s bed-chamber in the 
Burnett House. They had been fitly selected for their work, 
and they did it accordingly. 

The result of the trial was not made public for some days, 

and in the meantime Mr. V. was imprisoned in a room in the 

attie of the Burnett House, where he wrote the following letter 

to his wife : — 

" In Bastilk," 
No. 24G Burnett House, Cincinnati, O., May 14, 'G3. 

" My Very, Very Dear, Dear Wife . — 

" I am still here, ^ awaiting orders,' in military phrase ; but 
as calm and unmoved as ever. ]\Iy only concern is about you 
and my dear, dear little man — not forgetting indeed any of my 
household. But I depend en you to be self-possessed and 
patient, no matter what may happen to me. Be assured that 
we shall meet again ; and further, that we shall see days of 
prosperity, hapjjiness, and exaltation by-and-bye ; and you and 
my dear boy will live to share and enjoy them with me. You 
have read all this in Scripture, in history, in fiction. True, you 
did not dream of seeing it in my person or realising it in your 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 285 

own ; but it has turned out to be your destiny. Bear it all 
like a woman — a heroine. Take care of my dear, dear boy 
till I return. All goes well for the cause. The whole Demo- 
cratic and Conservative press is speaking out majestically, and 
the loading Abolition presses are becoming dumb. Pendleton 
and ^McLean still are with me most of the time. Other gentle- 
men also call every day. I enclose you Gen. E. S. Haines' 
card Avhich he sent me this afternoon. In a day or two at most 
the result of the case w^ill be made known. If Judge Leavitt 
be honest and firm, he can save much trouble all around; but 
I doubt him much. No matter what disposition is»made of 
me, my plans are all settled to meet each alternative : so be 
calm and wait. Pendleton telegraphed you this afternoon that 
the absurd Tortugas story was denied by authority. But I 
was prepared even for that. Remember me to all friends — 
enemies I will remember myself. Do not worry yourself in 
the least, or for one moment, about what they may say now. 
Your time icill come. Meantime, and till I return, friends •will 
take care of you. 

" Let my dear little boy go on with his studies, and teach 
him Latin soon. Tell him to be a very good boy and be kind 

and obedient to you and his aunt. My love to M , M , 

E , E , and to Ellen Bell. Many, many kisses for 

yourself and Charlie. 

" Most affectionately, 

"Your Husband." 



Two days after the trial before the Military Commission, the 
Hon. Geo. E. Pugh, on behalf of Mr. Yallandigham, moved 
for a writ of habeas corpus before Humphrey H. Leavitt, Judge 
of the United States Court for the Southern District of Ohio. 
No suspension of the privilege of the writ had at that time 
been declared under the Act of Congress, and the pretence of a 
Presidential right to suspend it had been exploded. Judge Lea- 
vitt required that notice of the application should be first given to 
Burnside, who submitted an extraordinary paper justifying the 
act, and claiming a constitutional and legal right to commit it, 



286 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

as military commandant of the Department of the Oliio, wliich 
he chose to regard as a vast camp, every citizen witliin its limits 
being subject to military law. The case was opened on the 11th 
by Mr. Pugh, in an argument of great ability and consummate 
eloquence. He was replied to on behalf of Burnside by two 
members of the Cincinnati bar, in elaborate speeches, appropri- 
ated and modernised from the Crown la^vyers of the reign of 
Charles I. and James II. Mr. Pugh rejoined in an argument 
of even greater ability than his first ; and Judge Leavitt, after 
two or three days' consideration, and upon consultation vnth 
Burnside, refused the vrr'it upon the grounds, first, that the 
nrrest was legal ; and second, that though it had been illegal, 
it was " morally certain that the writ would not be obeyed," 
and therefore ought not to be issued. Not since the days of 
Empson, Dudley, or Jeffreys, had such judicial servility to 
executive power been exhibited. Never, except upon the trial 
of John Hampden, in the ship-money case, was a like opinion 
pronounced from the bench. Let a single sentence suffice: 
" The sole question," says this most righteous judge, "is whether 
the arrest was legal ; and as before remarked, its legality depends 
on the necessity which existed for making it, and of that necessity, 
for the reason stated, this Court cannot judicially determine." 
And yet this monstrous doctrine is among the most moderate 
utterances of the opinion. The twelve judges of the First 
Charles were not more complaisant. " There is a rule of law," 
said one of them, "and a rule of government; and many 
things which may not be done by the rule of law, may be done 
by the rule of government; " and they all agreed that "when the 
good and safety of the kingdom in general is concerned, and 
the whole kingdom in danger, the king is the sole judge both 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 287 

of the danger, and when and how the same is to be prevented 
and avoided." The English judges held their offices during 
the 2>Ieasure of their master the king; the American judge 
held his for life, and under a written Constitution which 
expressly declared that no citizen should be arrested " except 
upon due process of law." 

Two days after the refusal of the habeas corpus, the sentence 
of the Military Commission and the approval of it by Burnside 
were made public. According to this sentence, as we have 
already seen, Mr. Vallandigham was condemned to close con- 
finement in Fort Warren, Boston harbor, during the war. 
Imprisonment on the Dry Tortugas Islands had at first been 
contemplated ; and many believed that sentence of death had 
been Burnside's original purpose, from which he was deterred 
only by the violence of the popular indignation which the 
arrest had excited. Whether this be true or not, he certainly 
insisted to a distinguished gentleman of Cincinnati that he 
might justly put Mr. Vallandigham to death for a speech 
delivered by him at Batavia in the previous April. 

The violent arrest, illegal trial, and unjust conviction and 
sentence of Mr. Vallandigham created intense excitement 
throughout the country. The Democratic press denounced 
the outrage in unmeasured terms, and very few even of the 
Republican papers attempted to justify it — with a few excep- 
tions they expressed disapproval. Large meetings were held 
in various places, and resolutions were adopted and speeches 
made expressive of the strongest disapprobation. These 
evidences that the spirit of liberty was , not wholly extinct 
in the land, these redeeming features in those dark days of 
despotism, we would like to extensively publish, but our lim- 



288 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

ited space will not permit. A few of them, however, we here 
place on record. 

On Saturday, the 16th of May, a meeting was held in 
Albany, New York, an account of which we take from the 
Atlas and Argus : — 

" One of the largest and most respectable meetings ever 
held at the Capitol convened in the Park on Saturday night 
for the purpose of protesting against the arrest, by order of 
General Burnside, of Hon. Clement L. Vallandigham. By 8 
o'clock the broad walk leading to the steps of the Capitol and 
the adjacent grounds were densely packed with citizens, and soon 
after the meeting was called to order by Henry S. Crandell, 
Esq., on whose nomination Hon. Erastus Corning was chosen 
President, who was assisted by a large number of Vice-Presi- 
dents and Secretaries. 

" The meeting was one of the most enthusiastic and spirited, 
the most determined in purpose of any ever held in the city of 
Albany. It was a meeting of freemen in defence of the Con- 
stitution. It was composed of the intellect, the patriotism and 
the vigor of the city. The list of oihcers embraces the most 
valued names in our city, and are a guarantee of the character 
of the assemblage and of its interest in the cause of law and 
of order. 

" The proceedings of the meeting speak for themselves. 
We point to the letter of Gov. Seymour with especial gratifi- 
cation. It rings with the spirit of patriotism and of republican 
vigor. It is to such utterances that we must look for the 
upholding of liberty and the restoration of the Constitution. 

"The speeches of Judge Parker and Hon. Francis Kernan 
are in the same strain, thoughtful and impressive. The closing 
speech of Mr. Murphy, of Erie, was eloquent and animated. 

" The resolutions, it will be seen, are strikingly moderate in 
expression, and reserved in all their allusions to the circumstances 
which called the meeting together — the arrest of Vallandigham. 
We respect the man in his misfortune; but it was not so much 
him as the cause of personal liberty and constitutional law 
which v»^as endangered in his person, that enlisted the sympa- 
thies and the interest of this meeting. The resolutions refer 
to the services of the Democracy to the cause of the nation in 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 289 

this crisis, and demand that the Administration shall be true 
to the Constitution. They demand that it shall reverse the 
action of the military tribunal, which has assumed to try a 
citizen for the offence of free speech, and they direct that 
copies of the resolutions be sent to the President. 

" It was a glorious meeting. Its numbers, its spirit, and 
its moderation angered the few Republicans in the city, who 
attempted to disturb it by disorder. The Democrats disposed 
of the disturbance and the disturbers with a strong hand and 
in a summary way, and then went on calmly with their pro- 
ceedings. 

" The meeting will be a historical one in the annals of the 
Democratic party. 

" Peter Cagger, Esq., stated that among the distinguished 
gentlemen invited to address the meeting was his Excellency 
Governor Seymour. Unfortunately, his Excellency could not 
attend, but he had sent a letter, which he (Mr. C.) would read. 
The following is the letter which, during its reading, was fre- 
quently applauded in the heartiest manner : 

State op New York, 
Executive Depaktment, Albany, May IG, 1863. 

" I cannot attend the meeting at the Capitol this evening, 
but I wish to state my opinion in regard to the arrest of Mr. 
Vallandigham. 

" It is an act which has brought dishonor upon our country ; 
it is full of danger to our persons and to our homes ; it bears 
upon its front a conscious violation of law and of justice. Act- 
ing upon the evidence of detailed informers, shrinking from 
the light of day, in the darkness of night, armed men violated 
the home of an American citizen, and furtively bore him away 
to a military trial conducted without those safeguards known in 
the proceedings of our judicial tribunals. 

" The transaction involved a series of offences against our 
most sacred rights. It interfered with the freedom of speech ; 
it violated our rights to be secure in our homes against unrea- 
sonable searches and seizures ; it pronounced sentence without 
a trial save one which was a mockery which insulted as well as 
wronged. The perpetrators now seek to impose punishment, 
not for an offence against law, but for a disregard of an invalid 
order, put forth in an utter disregard of the principles of civil 
liberty. If this proceeding is approved by the Government 

19 



290 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and sanctioned by the people, it is not merely a step towards 
revolution, it is revolution ; it will not only lead to military 
despotism, it establishes military despotism. In this aspect it 
must be accepted, or in this aspect it must be rejected. 

" If it is upheld, our liberties are overthrown. The safety 
of our persons, the security of our property, will hereafter 
depend upon the arbitrary wills of such military rulers as may 
be placed over us, while our constitutional guaranties will be 
broken down. Even now the Governors and the courts of 
some of the great Western States have sunk into insignificance 
before the despotic powers claimed and exercised by military 
men who have been sent into their borders. It is a fearfiil 
thing to increase the danger which now overhangs us by 
treating the law, the judiciary, and the authorities of States 
with contempt. The people of this country now await with 
the deepest anxiety the decision of the Administration upon 
these acts. Having given it a generous support in the conduct 
of the war, we now pause to see what kind of government it 
is for which we are asked to pour out our blood and our 
treasures. 

" The action of the Administration will determine in the 
minds of more than one-half of the people of the loyal States, 
whether this war is Avaged to put down rebellion at the South, 
or to destroy free institutions at the North. We look for its 
decision with the most solemn solicitude. 

"Horatio Seymour. 

" To Peter Cagger, Solomon F. Higgins, Erastus Corning, Jr., Committee. 

The Hon. John V. L. Pruyin offered a series of resolutions, 
which were unanimously adopted, and able and eloquent 
speeches were delivered by Judge Parker, Hon. Francis Ker- 
nan, and Hon. John Murphy. 

[From the New York World, May 19th.] 
" GREAT MASS MEETING IN NEW YORK. 

" vixdicatiox of law, free speech, and constitutional 

"guarantee. 

' " The great mass meeting last evening at Union Square in 
behalf of free speech, a free press, and personal rights, and 



LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 291 

having special reference to the vindication of these as violated 
in the arrest of Mr. Vallandigham, proved a magnificent suc- 
cess both in numbers and enthusiasm. The arrangements were 
under the auspices of the Democratic Union Association, and 
though necessarily made somewhat hurriedly, owing to the 
urgency of immediate action, \vere most excellent. 

" It was estimated by the most candid persons, experienced 
in the measurement of audiences, that there weropresent between 
twenty-five and thirty thousand people. Four .stands were 
erected — one in front of the monument of Washington, one 
facing it, one on the south side of Fourteenth street, and a 
fourth in front of Dr. Cheever's church. One of these was 
devoted entirely to German speakers. All the stands were 
surrounded by a perfect mass of human beings packed in the 
closest space, and extending as far out as the voice of the loud- 
est speaker could reach. The stands were hung witli American 
flags, and were furnished with several well-arranged lamps 
each, which shed sufficient light to render the stands entirely 
conspicuous, and in addition to these, Drummond lights Avere 
placed in diiferent locations, lighting up the whole scene 
around. 

" The meeting was quietly collecting on the east side of the 
square at half-past seven. The German Legion pressed up from 
the east side of the town and packed closely around the stands, 
and at a quarter to eight they began to call for the lights ancl 
music. Their numbers were at the end not less than eight 
thousand. 

" At stand No. 1 there was collected about an equal numl^er. 
A still larger and more dense crowd collected around the stand 
in front of the Maison Doree, while stand No. 4 in front of 
Springier Hotel was the last to light up, and massed about four 
thousand. 

" Besides the people collected at the stands, tliere Avere hun- 
dreds of others who could find no place to listen at these regu- 
lar places, and for that reason there were as many as a dozen 
extemporised platforms about the sides of the square on wagons 
or stoops, from which speakers of various calibre spoke to audi- 
ences of two or three hundred. At one place there was an 
eloquent young man in soldier's uniform, telling a simple and 
evidently truthful story, not as gleaned from newspapers, but 
from his own experience of the campaign of the Army of the 



292 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Potomac under McClellan, and expressing a patriotic regret 
that the army now Avas not under the leadership in which the 
sokliers had the confidence that they had been wont to feel for 
their own commander. Occasionally there passed by a surly 
loyalist who, shutting his eyes to the fact that the movement, 
whether right or wrong, was at least tremendously formidable, 
would express the regret as one was heard to do, that New 
York was not yet sufficiently under martial law to prevent such 
demonstrations of the people. 

" The following resolutions were enthusiastically and unani- 
mously adopted: 

" Whereas, "Within a State where the courts of law are 
open and their process unimpeded, soldiers under the command 
of officers of the United States army have broken into the 
residence and forcibly abducted from his home the Hon. Clem- 
ent L. Vallandigham ; and 

"Whereas, A body of men styled a military commission 
have arraigned before them and tried the said Hon. C. L. Val- 
landigham, a civilian and eminent public man, for words spoken 
in the discussion of public questions before an assemblage of his 
fellow-citizens; and. 

" Whereas, The said military commission have sentenced 
him to a punishment as yet unknown, but which is to be 
announced in some military order to be promulgated hereafter; 
therefore 

" Resolved, That we, the citizens of the city of New York 
here assembled, denounce the arrest of Hon. Clement L. Val- 
landigham and his trial and sentence by a military commis- 
sion as a startling outrage upon the hitherto sacred rights of 
American citizenship. 

^^ Resolved, That the exigencies of civil war require the 
fullest and freest discussion of public questions by the American 
people, to the end that their temporary public servants may not 
forget that they are the creatures of the public will and must 
respect the obligations and duties imposed upon them by the 
Constitution of their country, which is the authentic, solemn 
expression of that will ; and that whenever upon the orders of 
military commanders and from fear of their spies and informers, 
American citizens not in the military service shall fail to 
approve or disapprove measures of public policy, to denounce 
or applaud the commander-in-chief, and to advocate peace or 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 293 

war as their judgments may dictate, they have ceased to be 
freemen and have already become slaves. 

" Besolved, That we reverently cherish that great body of 
constitutions, laws, precedents and traditions which constitute 
us a free people, and that we hold those who designedly and 
persistently violate them as public enemies. 

" Resolved, That we are devotedly attached to the Union of 
these States, and can see nothing but calamity and weakness in 
its disruption, and shall continue to advocate whatever policy 
we believe will result in the restoration of that Union. 

" Resolved, That at a time when our fellow-citizens are fall- 
ing by thousands upon the battle-field, and human carnage has 
become familiar, we implore the Federal authorities not to 
adopt the fatal error that the system of imprisonment and 
terrorism will subjugate the minds and stifle the voice of the 
American people." 

The crowds at the various stands were addressed by Hon. 
E. P. Norton, J. A. McMaster, Esq., Judge McCunn, Hon. 
W. B, Rankin, John Mullaly, Esq., Dr. Merkle, Mr. Daniel 
Burdsall, Prof. Mason, and many others. We regret exceed- 
ingly that we have not space for copious extracts from their 
able and eloquent speeches. 

The following account of the great meeting in Philadelphia 
is from the Age of June 2d : — 

" Yesterday evening one of the largest and most enthusiastic 
political meetings which has ever been held in this city, made 
old Independence Square ring with its cheers for that Consti- 
tution and Union which were first planned and formed upon 
the very spot upon which stood the vast and swaying multi- 
tude. Towards dusk the various delegations from the Demo- 
cratic clubs, organised throughout the city, began to make their 
appearance, and continued to arrive in constantly accumulating 
numbers until at last the whole space of the large square "svas 
covered with a great and eager crowd." 

The Hon. Ellis Lewis, ex-Chief-Justice of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania, was called to the chair, and a large 
number of Vice-Presidents and Secretaries were appointed. 



294 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

Resolutions similar in spirit to those passed at the New 
York meeting were unanimously adopted. Speeches, bold, 
able and eloquent, -were then made by ex-Chief-Justice Lewis, 
ex-Gov. "Wm. Bigler, Hon. Charles J. Biddle, Hon. Peter 
McCall, George. W. Biddle, Esq., George Northrop, Esq., 
Charles Ingersoll, Esq., and others. 

After the reading of letters from Hon. G. M. "Wharton, 
Hon. Richard Vaux, and others, the meeting adjourned. 

" Thus quietly and pleasantly ended one of the greatest 
political demonstrations that PhiladeliDhia has ever known. In 
spite of all the predictions to the contrary, the whole affair 
passed off as peaceably and as orderly as even the most law- 
abiding of citizens could wish. Indeed, but few meetings have 
ever been held which have been characterised by so thorough a 
disposition for order and deliberation." 

The expression of public oj^inion through these meetings 
and by the press in every part of the country produced a 
powerful effect. It had been Burnside's intention to arrest all 
the chief Democratic leaders of the Northwest, and in some 
cases the orders had been made out. In alarm he was now 
obliged to pause. His attempt soon after to suppress the 
Chicago Times called forth so jDowerful an insurrectionary 
feeling, that the President was forced to revoke the order. 
Thus, through premature and too violent development, the 
whole conspiracy to break down party opposition to the men 
in power, and subjugate the Northwest, utterly failed. 

In February, 1864, aj)plication for redress in behalf of 
Mr. Vallandigham was made to the Supreme Court of the 
United States, and although a notice of it now is out of the 
order of time, still to close up the matter of his trial we will 
here give it. Mr. Pugh applied for a Avrit of certiorcwi to 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 295 

review and annul the proceedings and sentence of the military 
commission before which Mr. Vallandigham had been tried ; 
but that tribunal, having under the Constitution no appellate 
jurisdiction of any kind, except in cases first ascertained by 
law, and Congress not having given such jurisdiction in any 
proceeding before courts-martial or military commission, was 
obliged, and upon this ground expressly and alone, to deny 
the writ. No American legislator had ever before imagined 
that any mere citizen would, under any circumstances, be sub- 
jected to trial by military law in a State where judicial process 
and courts had never been interrupted, and therefore no mode 
of redress had ever been provided. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

EXILE AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1863. 

All efforts for Mr. Vallandighaui's release having failed, on 
the 19th day of May, 1863, he was placed upon the gunboat 
Exchange, commanded by Cajitain John Sebastian, to be trans- 
ferred to Louisville on his way South. His intercourse with 
Captain Sebastian was pleasant. The Captain was a gentleman 
in every sense of the word, and had a heart capable of appre- 
ciating the feelings of his prisoner. A regard and intimacy 
grew up between them which lasted during Mr. Vallandig- 
haui's life. Just before his death he gave a letter of introduc- 
tion to a friend to be presented to Captain Sebastian, and when 
he did so he spoke in the warmest terms of the kindness and 
consideration with which the Captain had treated him when he 
took him a prisoner from Cincinnati to Louisville. It was the 
19tli of May when Mr. V. was put in charge of Captain 
Sebastian, and at 11 o'clock on the 22d the steamer started 
down the river. He was informed of the change of his sen- 
tence (from imprisonment in Fort Warren to banishment to the 
South) upon the gunboat a day or two before. The morning 
of his departure from Cincinnati, he drew uj) the following 
address to the Democracy of Ohio : — 

" Military Prison, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 23, 18G3. 
" To tlie Democracy of Ohio : 

"Banished from my native State for no crime save Demo- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 297 

cratic opinions and free speech to you in tlieir dofencc, and 
about to go into exile, not of my own will but by the compul- 
sion of an arbitrary and tyrannic poM'er which I cannot resist, 
allow me a parting word. Because despotism and superior 
force so will it, I go within the Confederate lines. I well under- 
stand the purpose of this order. But in vain the malice of 
enemies shall thus continue to give color to the calnmnies and 
misrepresentations of the past two years. They little compre- 
hend the true character of the man wdth whom they have to 
deal. No order of banishment, executed by superior force, can 
release me from my obligations or deprive me of my rights as 
a citizen of Ohio and of the United States. My allegiance to 
my own State and Government I shall recognise, wheresoever 
I may be, as binding in all things, just the same as though I 
remained upon their soil. Every sentiment and expression of 
attachment to the Union and devotion to the Constitution — to 
my country — which I have ever cherished or uttered, shall 
abide unchanged and unretracted till my return. Meantime, I 
will not doubt that the people of Ohio, cowering not a moment 
before the threats or the exercise of arbitrary power, will, in 
every trial, prove themselves worthy to be called freemen. 

"C. L. Yallandigham." 



On his arrival at Louisville, Kentucky, he wrote a letter to 
his wife dated May 23d, in Avhich he said he " was in fine 
spirits and enjoying excellent health." After remaining a few 
hours at Louisville, he was started under a strong guard for 
Murfreesboro', the outpost of the Northern army in Tennessee. 
His journey was without adventure ; he remained but a short 
time in Nashville, and thence in a special train proceeded to 
Murfreesboro'. 

On the evening of May 24th he was brought to the house 
of the Plon. Charles ReacTy, in Murfreesboro', Tennessee, then 
the headquarters of the ProVost-Marshal. It was there he first 
met General Rosecrans, and the interview between them was 
interesting, and, considering the circumstances, much more 



298 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

agreeable than could have been expected. At the beginning 
of the conversation between these distinguished men, the Gen- 
eral, without using any insulting expression to liis prisoner, 
manifested a disposition to lecture him for his ojoposition to 
the war. This was promptly met in a firm and dignified man- 
ner by Mr. Vallandigham. The General Mas somewhat taken 
aback for a moment, and then proceeded to give his views upon 
the harm done, in his opinion, by men who were " disloyal " 
in the North, and the hatred entertained against such men in 
the army. He concluded by remarking, " Why, Sir, do you 
know that unless I protect you with a guard my soldiers will 
tear you to pieces in an instant ? " To this Mr. Vallandigham 
in substance replied, " That, Sir, is because they are just as 
prejudiced and ignorant of my character and career as yourself; 
but. General, I have a proposition to make. Draw your 
soldiers up in a hollow square to-morrow morning, and an- 
nounce to them that Vallandigham desires to vindicate him- 
self, and I will guarantee that when they"- have heard me 
through they will be more willing to tear Lincoln and yourself 
to pieces than they will Vallandigham." The General shook 
his head and declined the experiment, saying " he had too 
much regard for the life of the prisoner to try it." The conver- 
sation then became less personal in its nature, and Mr. Vallan- 
digham's pleasant genial manner so won upon the gallant Gen- 
eral, that before they parted their intervicAv assumed more the 
appearance of a convivial meeting than that of a prisoner with 
one having almost unlimited authority over his disposal. 
About midnight the General arose to leave, and laying his hand 
on Mr. V.'s shoulder, he said to Col. McK., of his staif, " He 
don't look a bit like a traitor, now does he, Joe?" They talked 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 299 

together about four hours, and before the interview ended it 
■was very evident that the General regretted the duty that 
devolved ujjon him of enforcing the penalty against his pris- 
oner. Upon parting he shook Mr. Yallandigham warmly by 
the hand. 

At two o'clock in the morning of the 25th the clattering of 
hoofs and the clank of sabres gave him notice to prepare for 
further journeyings. Surrounded by quite a numerous body 
of cavalry, commanded by Major Miles, the Provost-Marshal, 
he went forth into the darlaiess towards the Confederate lines, 
by way of the Shelbyville j)ike. After marching forward for 
a little over an hour, a halt was made at the house of a Mr. 
Butler to wait for daylight. At the first gleam of dawn the 
escort and the prisoner resumed their march. Mr. Vallandig- 
ham was compoasd and cheerful, and discussed his situation 
indiiferently as he rode along ; but according to the account of 
one of his escort, was perceptibly affected when the extreme 
outpost of the Union army was passed and the Confederate 
picket-line was approached. He breakfasted at the house 
of a Mrs. Alexander, while the officers in charge of him 
went with a flag of truce to announce to the officer command- 
ing the Southern pickets the presence of Mr. Vallandigham, 
and their desire to place him within the Confederate lines. 
Considerable delay ensued. The officer having charge of the 
Southern pickets seemed to doubt the propriety of permitting 
Mr. V. to come within the lines, and word was sent to General 
Bragg of the condition of affairs. Meanwhile the Federal 
ofiicer, who did not want any longer to be delayed with his 
troublesome charge, took him to within a short distance of the 
extreme picket-line of the Confederate forces, and left him at 



300 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

the house of Jeremiah Odell. Before the Federal officers left 
Mr. V. addressed these words to the Confederate soldier, a pri- 
vate in the 8th Alabama regiment, who had been sent to meet 
him. " I am a citizen of Ohio, and of the United States. I 
am here within your lines by force, and against my will. I 
therefore surrender myself to you as a prisoner of war." The 
Federal officers then bade him farewell and galloped away. 
The soldier with whom he was now left seemed greatly per- 
plexed as to how he should act, and whether he was to con- 
sider his prisoner as a friend or an enemy. General Bragg's 
headquarters were sixteen miles in the rear of the advanced 
post at which ISIr. Vallandigham was left, and it was several 
hours before an answer came from the General authorising his 
reception. " They were hours," said Mr. Vallandigham, " of 
solitude, but calmly spent — the bright sun shining in the 
clear sky above me, and faith in God and the future burning 
in my heart." But it was a novel situation, and many strange 
thoughts passed through his mind as he stood upon the neutral 
ground between contending armies, not daring to go back and 
uncertain whether he could go forward. About noon a mes- 
sage came from General Bragg to bring Mr. V. to his head- 
quarters ; and he was driven in an ambulance, under an escort 
of cavalry, through numerous camps to Shelbyville. Soon 
after dusk he arrived in the town and proceeded immediately 
to the General's headquarters, where he was met in a kind and 
courteous manner. In the evening he was directed to the 
house of Mrs. Eakin, where a spacious and pleasant room had 
been provided for him. " I retired at once," he wrote to a 
friend, " having slept but half an hour since Saturday night, 
and was awakened early next morning by the rays of a bright 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 301 

Southern sun piercing the eastern window of my room. There 
were no sentinels at my door, and I w^alked out unchallenged." 
An interesting incident occurred to him whilst he was sojourn- 
ing in the neighborhood of Shelbyville. In company with 
other gentlemen he was invited to spend the day at the house 
of a very elegant and estimable lady living near that place. 
After a day most agreeably spent in the society of several 
charming ladies, he was preparing to leave, when his hostess 
addressed him in substantially these words : — " Mr. Vallan- 
digham, we expect you to remain with us. About a year ago I 
had a singular presentiment, having often heard of you and 
admired your noble and independent spirit, that you would be 
either driven or banished from your home to the South, and I 
then set about preparing a room for you. I have had it ready for 
months, and now you must remain and occupy it, for it was 
fitted up especially for your convenience and comfort." Sin- 
gular as this statement was, it was nevertheless true, for she 
had mentioned it to others before he was sent South ; yet she 
had never seen him until the day this conversation occurred. 
Mr. Vallandigham received many similar invitations whilst in 
the South, among them one from the Hon. Joshua Hill, of 
Georgia, a gentleman who was an earnest supporter of the 
Union during the whole war. In Shelbyville he remained a 
week, passing most of the time in seclusion. On the 1st of 
June he was directed to report on parole to General Whiting 
at Wilmington, North Carolina. The next day, as he was 
passing along through the camps, just before taking the train 
for Chattanooga, friendly demonstrations were made towards 
him by crowds of soldiers who had been informed who it was : 
this was promptly suppressed by the officers, and was unex- 
pected and uudesired by Mr. Vallandigham. 



302 LIFE OF cleme:nt l. vallandigham. 

Leaving Mr. Vallandigliam for the present in the South, we 
return to the State of Ohio. The Democratic Stqjte Convention 
assembled at Columbus on the 11th of June. In many respects 
it was the most remarkable political meeting ever held in the 
United States. Although but a delegate convention, the people 
came up from every county to the number of more than twenty 
thousand. Even from parts of the State traversed by railroads, 
many travelled in wagons, and bringing provisions with them, 
camped out. At daylight on the morning of the 11th, three 
several orators from as many different stands in the State House 
yard were haranguing the people. The following accounts are 
from papers published at the time. The Statesman says : — 

"The Democratic State Convention of June 11, 1863, will 
long be remembered by thousands who participated in the pro- 
ceedings of the day, as well as by the denizens of Columbus 
and other lookers-on who may not have participated in its 
proceedings nor sympathised in what was done. Such an out- 
pouring of the people Mas never witnessed in Ohio, and the 
spirit and enthusiasm that prevailed were unparalleled. 

" Early as Tuesday evening the people began to flock to 
the capital from all parts of the State, and on Wednesday a 
constant stream kept pouring into the city, until every place 
where entertainment could be had was exhausted, and many of 
the private residences as well as our public buildings were tilled 
to overflowing, to say nothing of the mass of people that 
camped out in the outskirts of the city. When to this vast 
crowd was added the number that came in on yesterday morn- 
ing from every section of the country, the assembled thousands 
were here in such numbers that we will not attempt to estimate 
them. Every conceivable mode of conveyance was brought 
into requisition to bring the people to Columbus. They came 
by railroad, in canal boats, in carriages, wagons, on horseback 
and on foot, and but one heart and one spirit animated the 
immense living and moving mass, and that was a determination 
to do everything in the power of men to do to save, if possible, 
the grand "^old Constitution and the Union, and thek own per- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 303 

sonal rights and liberties as citizens of Ohio. On ^yeclnesday 
afternoon and evening impromptu speeches were made, not only 
in the centre of the city to large crowds, but in many portions 
of the town remote from the State House ; and on yesterday 
morning early, the people appearing in vast cavalcades from 
every road that leads to our city, M-as the signal for huzzas and 
speaking to commence, Avhich was inaugurated before 7 o'clock 
in the morning and kept up all day. And as to the vast crowd, 
what shall we say of it ? In enthusiasm it was beyond any- 
thing we have ever witnessed in the many meetings we have 
attended in the past thirty years, and in its personal conduct 
and demeanor we think we speak correctly and truly when we 
say that a more orderly assemblage never met on any occasion 
in Ohio." 

The correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette (Eepublican) 
says :— 

" By the evening trains the crowd came pouring in as if the 
flood would never cease. The hotels were already overflowing. 
The clerk of the Neil House allowed nie one room, to which 
he had already absolutely assigned seventeen delegates, while 
six more for the same room were marked ' coming.' A smart 
shower did not seem to dampen the unmistakable enthusiasm 
in the least. Crowds on the corners cheered for Vallandigham; 
little boys perambulated the hotels peddling photographs of the 
exile ; a meeting was improvised in the midst of the rain in 
the State House yard, and patient crowds, with and without 
umbrellas, listened to a INIr. Mayo, who declared that it would 
bo the proud privilege, as well as the duty of the Convention, 
to nominate that incorruptible statesman and fearless patriot, 
Clement \j. Vallandigham, and then, if military minions under- 
took to interfere with the election or inauguration, let them fall 
back upon their own stout right arms and hearts, and defend 
their constitutional rights: whereat the crowd cheered im- 
mensely. The enthusiasm is as unquestioned as the crowd. 
As I write, the State House yard is black -with the audience of 
some 'stumper' on the steps, and every minute or two there 
comes a burst of cheering, and the air is darkened with a swarm 
of waving hats. The streets are filled with the incoming dele- 
gates ; now and then files of straggling wagons, with a profusion 



304 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGilAM. 

of flags, pass along, and the inmates yell and wave their hats 
with frantic earnestness — everywhere cheering and flags and 
crowds of earnestly-talking and gesticulating humanity, and 
shouts of ^ Hurrah for Vallandigham ! ' There has been no 
more enthusiastic convention here for years than this one now 
promises to be." 

After the organization of the Convention a ballot Avas taken 
for Governor, and Mr. Vallandigham was nominated by a vote 
of four hundred and eleven to thirteen. The nomination was 
then made unanimous amid shouts of applause. Able and 
eloquent speeches were made and spirited resolutions passed. 
Among them were the following : — 

" That the arrest, imprisonment, and pretended trial and 
actual banishment of C. L. Vallandigham, a citizen of the State 
of Ohio, not belonging to the laud or naval forces of the United 
States, nor to the militia in actual service, by alleged military 
authority, for no other pretended crime than that of uttering 
words of legitimate criticism upon the conduct of the Admin- 
istration in power, and of appealing to the ballot-box for a 
change of policy — said arrest and military trial taking place 
where the courts of law are open and unobstructed, and for no 
act done within the sphere of active military operations in 
carrying on the war — we regard as a palpable violation of the 
provisions of the Constitution of the United States. 

" That Clement L. A'^allandigham was, at the time of his 
arrest, a prominent candidate for nomination by the Demo- 
cratic party for the office of Governor of the State ; that the 
Democratic party was fully competent to decide whether he 
was a fit man for that nomination, and that the attempt to 
deprive them of that right by his arrest and banishment was 
an unmerited im])utation upon their intelligence and loyalty, 
as well as a violation of the Constitution. 

" That we respectfully, but most earnestly, call upon the 
President of the United States to restore Clement L. Vallan- 
digham to his home in Ohio, and that a committee of one from 
each congressional district of the State, to be selected by the 
presiding officer of this convention, is hereby appointed to pre- 
sent this application to the President." 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 305 

In pursuance of this resolution, a committee composed of 
some of the leading men of the State was a^jpointed, -who 
repaired to AVashington, and in person delivered the following 
letter to the President : — 

"Washington City, June 26, 1863. 
"To His KvccUcncy, the President of the United States : — The 
undersigned having been appointed a committee, under the 
authority of the resolutions of the State Convention held at 
the City of Columbus, Ohio, on the 11th inst., to communi- 
cate with you on the subject of the arrest and banishment of 
Clement L. Vallandigham, most respectfully submit the follow- 
ing as the resolutions of that Con-Mention bearing u])on the 
subject of this communication, and ask of your Excellency 
their earnest consideration. And they deem it proper to state 
that the Convention was one in which all parts of the State 
were represented, and one of the most respectable as to num- 
bers and character, one of the most earnest and sincere in 
the support of the Constitution and the Union, ever held in 
that State." 

Here were inserted the resolutions, some of Avhicli are 
presented above. 

" The undersigned, in the discliargc of the duty assigned 
them, do not think it necessary to reiterate tlie facts connected 
with the arrest, trial, and banishment of Mr. Vallandigham — 
they are well known to the President, and are of public history 
— nor to enlarge upon the positions taken by the Convention, 
nor to recapitulate the constitutional provisions which it 
is believed have been violated: they have been stated at length, 
and with clearness, in the resolutions Avhich have been recited. 
The luidersigned content themselves with a brief reference to 
other suggestions pertinent to the subject. 

"They do not call upon your Excellency as suppliants, 
praying the revocation of the order banishing Mr. Vallandig- 
ham as a favor; but by the authority of a Convention rc])re- 
seuting a majority of flic citizens of the State of Ohio, they 
respectfully ask it as a right due to an American citizen in whose 
personal injury the sovereignty and dignity of the people of 

20 



306 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Ohio as a free State have been offended. And this duty they 
perform the more cordially from the consideration that, at a 
time of great national emergency, pregnant with danger to our 
Federal Union, it is all-important that the true friends of the 
Constitution and the Union, however they may differ as to 
the mode of administering the Government, and the measures 
most likely to be successful in the maintenance of the Consti- 
tution and the restoration of the Union, should not be thrown 
into conflict with each other. 

" The arrest, unusual trial, and banishment of Mr, Yallan- 
digliam, have created wide-spread and alarming disaffection 
among the people of the vState, not only endangering the har- 
mony of the friends of the Constitution and the Union, and 
tending to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the State, but 
also impairing that confidence in the fidelity of your Adminis- 
tration to the great landmarks of free government essential to 
a peaceful and successful enforcement of the laws of Ohio. 

" You are reported to have used, in a public communication 
on this subject, the following language : 

"' It gave me pain when I learned that Mr. Vallandigham 
had been arrested — that is, I was pained that there should 
liave seemed to be a necessity for arresting him ; and that it 
will afford me great pleasure to discharge him so soon as I can 
by any means believe the public safety will not suffer by it.' 

" The undersigned assure your Excellency, from our per- 
sonal knowledge of the feelings of the people of Ohio, that 
the public safety Mall be far more endangered by continuing 
Mr. Vallandigham in exile than by releasing him. It may 
be true that persons differing from him in political views may 
be found in Ohio, and elsewhere, who will express a different 
opinion ; but they are certainly mistaken. 

" Mr. Vallandigham may differ with the President, and 
even with some of his own political party, as to the true and 
most effectual means of maintaining the Constitution and re- 
storing the Union ; but this difference of opinion does not 
prove him to be unfaithful to his duties as an American citizen. 
If a man, devotedly attached to the Constitution and the 
Union, conscientiously believes that, from the inherent nature 
of the Federal compact, the war, in the* present condition of 
things in this country, can not be used as a means of restoring 
the Union ; or that a war to subjugate a part of the States, or 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 307 

a war to revolutionise the social system In a part of the States, 
could not restore, but would inevitably result in the final des- 
truction of both the Constitution and the Union — is he not to 
be allowed the right of an American citizen to appeal to the 
judgment of the people for a change of policy by the constitu- 
tional remedy of the ballot-box? 

" During the war with Mexico many of the political oppo- 
nents of the Administration then in power thought it their 
duty to oppose and denounce the war, and to urge before the 
people of the country that it was unjust and prosecuted for 
unholy purposes. With equal reason it might have been said 
of them that their discussions before the people were calculated 
to ' discourage enlistments/ ' to prevent the raising of troops,' 
and to ' induce desertions from the army,' and ' leave the Gov- 
ernment without an adequate military force to carry on the 
war/ 

" If the freedom of speech and of the press are to be sus- 
pended in time of Avar, then the essential element of pojjular 
government to effect a change of policy in the constitutional 
mode is at an end. The freedom of speech and of the press is 
indispensable, and necessarily incident to the nature of popular 
government itself If any inconvenience or evils arise from 
its exercise, they are unavoidable. 

" On this subject you are reported to have said, further : 

" ' It is asserted, in substance, that Mr. Vallandigham was 
by a military commander seized and tried for no other reason 
than words addressed to a public meeting in criticism of the 
course of the Administration, and In condemnation of the mil- 
itary order of the General. Now, If there be no mistake about 
this — If there was no other reason for the arrest — then I 
concede that the arrest was wrong. But the arrest, I under- 
stand, was made for a very different reason. Mr. Vallandig- 
ham avows his hostility to the war on the part of the Union ; 
and his arrest was made because he was laboring with some 
effect to prevent the raising of troops, to encourage desertions 
in the army, and to leave the rebellion Avithout an adequate 
military force to suppress It. He was not arrested because ho 
was damaging the political prospects of the Administration, 
or the personal interest of the Commanding General, but be- 
cause he was damaging the army, upon the existence and vigor 
of Avhich the life of the nation depends. He was warring 



308 LIFE OF CLEME:^'T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

upon the military, and this gave the militar}- constitutional 
jurisdiction to lay hands upon him. If I\Ir. Vallandighaui -was 
not damaging the military power of the country, then his 
arrest was made on a mistake of facts, which I would be glad 
to correct on reasonable satisfactory evidence.' 

*' In answer to this, permit us to say, first, that neither the 
charge, nor the specifications in support of the charge on which 
Mr. Vallandigham was tried, impute to him the act of either 
laboring to prevent the raising of troops, or to encourage de- 
sertions from the army. Secondly, no evidence on the trial 
was offered with a view to support, or even tended to support, 
any such charge. In what instance and by what act did he 
either discourage enlistments or encourage desertions from the 
army ? "Who is the man who was discouraged from enlisting, 
and who was encouraged to desert, by any act of Mr. Vallan- 
digham ? If it be assumed that perchance some person might 
have been discouraged from enlisting, or that some person 
mijrht have been encourao-ed to desert on account of hearing 
Mr. Vallandigham'.s views as to the policy of the war as a 
means of restoring the Union, would that havp laid the foun- 
dation for his conviction and banishment? If so, upon the 
same grounds every political opponent of the jSIexican V»av 
might have been convicted and banished from the country. 

" AYhen gentlemen of high standing and extensive influ- 
ence, including your Excellency, opposed in the discussions be- 
fore the people the policy of the ^lexican War, were they 
' warring upon the military,' and did thLs ' give the military 
constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands upon' them? And 
finally, the charge in the specifications upon which Mr. Val- 
landigham was tried, entitled him to a trial before the civil 
tribunals, according to the express provisions of the late Acts 
of Congress, approved by yourself, of July 17, 1862, and 
]March 3, 1863, wliich were manifestly designed to supersede 
all necessity or pretext for arbitrary militaiy arrests. 

"The undersigned are unable to agree with you in the 
opinion you have expressed, that the Constitution is different 
in time of insurrection or invasion from what it is in time of 
peace and public security'. The Constitution provides for no 
limitation upon, or exceptions to, the guarantees of personal 
liberty, except as to the writ of habeas corpus. Has the Pres- 
ident, at the time of invasion or insurrection, the right to en- 



LIFE OF CLEME^'T L. YALLAlTDIGHAii. 309 

graft limitations or exceptions upon these constitutional guar- 
antees whenever, in his judgement, the public safety requires 
it? 

" True it is, the article of the Constitution which defines 
the various powers delegated to Congress, declares that the 
' priNalege of the vrrit of habeas corpus shall not l^e suspended 
unless where, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
may require it.' But this qualification or limitation upon this 
restriction upon the powers of Congress has no reference to, or 
connection with, the other constitutional guarantees of personal 
libert}'. Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon 
the power of Congress to susjjeud the writ of habeas corpus, 
and yet the other guarantees of personal liberty would remain 
unchanged. 

"Although a man might not have a constitutional right to 
have an immediate investigation made as to the legality of his 
arrest upon habeas corpus, yet his ' right to a sjjeedy and public 
trial by an impartial jur}' of the State and District wherein the 
crime shall have been committed,' will not be altered ; neither 
will his right to the exemption from ^ cruel and unusual pun- 
ishments ; ' nor his right to be secure in his person, houses,' 
papers and effects against any unreasonable seizures and 
searches ; nor his right to be deprived of life, liberty or pro- 
perty, without due j^rocess of law ; nor his right not to be held 
to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous offence unless on 
presentment or indictment of a grand jmy, be in anywise 
changed. 

" And certainly the restriction upon the power of Congress 
to suspend the writ of habeas corjjus in time of insurrection or 
invasion, could not affect the guarantee that the freedom of 
speech and of the press shall not be abridged. It is sometimes 
urged that the proceedings in the civil tribunals are too tardy 
and ineffective for cases arising in times of insurrection or 
invasion. It is a full reply to this to say, that arrests by civil 
process may be equally as expeditious and effective as arrests 
by military orders. 

" True, a summary trial and punisliment are not allowed in 
the civil courts. But if the offender be under arrest and 
imprisoned, and not entitled to a discharge under a MTit of 
habeas corpus, before trial, what more can be required for the 
purposes of the Government? .The idea that all the constitu- 



310 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

tional guarantees of personal liberty are suspended throughout 
the country at a time of insurrection or invasion in any part 
of it, places us upon a sea of uncertainty, and subjects the life, 
liberty and property of every citizen to the mere will of a mil- 
itary commander, or what he may say he considers the public 
safety requires. Does your Excellency wish to have it under- 
stood that you hold that the rights of every man throughout 
this vast country are subject to be annulled whenever you may 
say that you consider the public safety requires it, in time of 
invasion or insurrection ? You are further reported as having 
said that the constitutional guarantees of personal liberty have 
* no ajjplication to the present case we have in hand, because 
the arrests complained of were not made for treason — that is, 
not for the treason defined in the Constitution, and upon the 
conviction of which the punishment is death — nor yet were 
they made to hold j)ersons to answer for capital or otherwise 
infamous crime ; nor were the proceedings following in any 
constitutional or criminal sense legal prosecutions. The arrests 
Avcre made on totally different grounds, and the proceedings fol- 
lowing accorded with the grounds of tlie arrests,' &c. The 
conclusion to be drawn from this position of your Excellency 
is, that where a man is liable to a * criminal prosecution,' or is 
charged with a crime kno^vn to the laws of the land, ke is 
clothed with all the constitutional guarantees for his safety and 
security from "UTong and injustice ; but where he is not liable 
to a ' criminal prosecution,' or charged with any crime known 
to the laws, if the President or any military commander shall 
say that he considers that the public safety requires it, this man 
may be put outside of the pale of the constitutional guaran- 
tees, and arrested without charge of crime, imprisoned without 
knowledge what for, and any length of time, or be tried before 
a court-martial and sentenced to any kind of pmiishment 
unkno^Yn to the laws of the land which the President or the 
military commander may see jjroper to impose. 

" Did the Constitution intend to throw the shield of its 
securities around the man liable to be charged with treason as 
defined by it, and yet leave the man not liable to any such 
charge unprotected by the safeguard of personal liberty and 
personal security? Can a man not in the military or naval 
service, nor within the field of the operations of the army, be 
arrested and imprisoned without any law of the land to author- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 311 

isc it ? Can a man thus in civil life be punished without any 
law defining the oiFence and prescribing the punishment ? If 
the President or a court-martial may prescribe one kind of pun- 
ishment unauthorised by law, why not any other kind ? Ban- 
ishment is an unusual punishment, and unknown to our laws. 
If the President has the right to prescribe the punishment of 
banishment, why not that of death and confiscation of property ? 
If the President has tlie right to change the punishment pre- 
scribed by the court-martial from imprisonment to banishment, 
why not from imprisonment to torture upon the rack, or exe- 
cution upon the gibbet ? 

" If an indefinable kind of constructive treason is to be in- 
troduced and engrafted upon the Constitution, unknown to the 
laws of the land, and subject to the will of the President when- 
ever an insurrection or invasion shall occur in any part of this 
vast country, what safety or security will be left for the liber- 
ties of the people ? 

" The ' constructive treason ' that gave the friends of free- 
dom so many years of toil and trouble in England, was in- 
considerable compared to this. The precedents which you 
make will become a part of the Constitution for your succes- 
sors, if sanctioned and acquiesced in by the people now. 

"The people of Ohio are willing to co-operate zealously 
with you in every effort warranted by the Constitution to 
restore the Union of the States, but they cannot consent to aban- 
don those fundamental principles of civil liberty which are 
essential to their existence as a free people. 

" In their name we ask that, by a revocation of the order 
of his banishment, Mr. Vallandigham may be restored to the 
enjoyment of those rights of -"vhich they believe he has been 
unconstitutionally deprived. 

" We have the honor to be 

" ResjDectfully^yours, &c. 

*M. BiRCHAKD, Chair'n, 19th Dist. Jas. R. Morris, 15th Dist 

David A. Hour, Sec'y, 3d Dist. Geo. S. Converse, 7th Dist. 

Geo. Bliss, 14th Dist. Warren P. Noble, 9th Dist. 

T. W. Bartley, 8th Dist. Geo. H. Pendleton, 1st Dist. 

W. J. Gordon, 18th Dist. W. A. Hutchins, 11th Dist. 

John O'Neill, 13th Dist. Abner L. Backus, 10th Dist. 

C. A. WniTE, 6th Dist. J. F. McKinney, 4th Dist. 

W. E. Finck, 12th Dist. L. C. LeBlond, 5th Dist. 

Alexander Long, 2d Dist. Louis Sch^efer, 17th Dist." 
J. W. White, IGlh Dist. 



312 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

A similar committee was appointed by the Albany meeting, 
who presented to the President resolutions and a letter of like 
import with the above. To both committees Mr. Lincoln 
returned separate replies in writing, justifying the outrage, and 
insisting gravely upon his constitutional right to commit and 
repeat it. In these extraordinary letters he maintained the 
whole doctrine of " military necessity/' insisting that the Con- 
stitution in time of war varied " in its application " from the 
Constitution in time of peace, so that its limitations upon 
2)ower, and the rights secured by it to the States and the people, 
ceased, in cases of rebellion and invasion involving the public 
safety, to be applicable, and that " the man whom for the time 
the people had under the Constitution made the Commander- 
in-chief of the army and navy, was the man " who was to 
decide- when the j)ublic safety was involved, and what in that 
case ought to be done. He went further, and forgetting his 
high position as President, resorted to subterfuge and prevari- 
cation in order to justify the particular act of which the com- 
mittees complained. Wholly ignoring the " charge and speci- 
fication " upon which alone Mr. Vallandigham had been 
arrested and subjected to trial by the military commission, and 
conceding in so many words that if the arrest were made for 
language addressed to a jjublic meeting in criticism of the 
Administration, or in condemnation of the military order of 
the General, " it was wrong," he did not scruple to assert that 
Mr. Yallandigham was arrested " because he was laboring with 
some effect to prevent the raising of troops, to encourage deser- 
tions from the army, and to leave the rebellion without an 
adequate military force to suppress it." No such charge had 
been referred against him, and it was without the slightest 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 313 

foundation in truth. He further charged Mr. Vallandigham 
with being in complicity with armed combinations to resist the 
conscription and the arrest of deserters, and with numerous acts 
of assassination that had been committed — overt acts of crime, 
easy of proof if true, yet constituting no part of the charge 
and specification before the militaiy commission. With a 
knowledge too that Mr. Yallandigham's speeches, including 
the very one for which ostensibly he had been arrested, were 
full of injunctions to obey all laws and to respect all rightful 
authority, INIr. Lincoln did not hesitate to add that with all 
these acts of violence and resistance " staring him in the face, 
he []Mr. Y.] had never uttered a word of rebuke or counsel 
against them." Yet after all these assertions he declared in 
his reply to the Albany committee, and repeated it in his letter 
to the committee from Ohio, that Mr. Yallandigham's arrest 
"had been ioY prevention, and not for punisJiment ; not so much 
for what had been done, as for what p)rohahly would he done." 
He concluded his letter to the Ohio committee with an offer to 
revoke the order of banishment, upon the condition that the 
several members of the committee should bind themselves to 
certain propositions in ^vriting submitted by him, which implied 
nothing less than support of the war and indorsement of the 
Administration ; but he added with despotic insolence, that " in 
regard to Mr. Yallandigham and all others, he would here- 
after as heretofore, do so much as the public safety might seem 
to require." To the propositions thus made, the committee 
replied that they " were not authorised to enter into any bar- 
gains, terms, contracts, or conditions with the President of the 
United States to procure the release of Mr. Yallandigham." 
The entire correspondence was conducted on the part of both 
committees with great dignity and consummate ability. 



314 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Ill the meantime Mr. Vallandigham was on his way from 
the South to Canada, which, before leaving Cincinnati, he had 
resolved to reach at the earliest moment ; and in case he found 
blockade-running from the eastern ports impracticable or too 
hazardous, then to cross the Mississippi and make his way 
through Texas to Matamoras, and thence by steamer to Ha- 
vana and Halifax. But at that time vessels were running to 
and from Wilmington almost with the regularity of packets ; 
and after a sojourn there of a few days, he took passage on the 
steamer Cornubia, Captain Gayle, and on the evening of the 
17th of June ran out in safety through the blockading 
squadron, and arrived in Bermuda on the 20th. The follow- 
ing incident occurred on the passage. One morning a steam- 
ship hove in sight and bore down upon the vessel on which he 
had embarked. On nearer approach it was apparent that it 
was a United States man-of-war. On board the vessel there 
was great alarm, for not only had the Captain many things 
^Vhich were contraband of war, but also as passengers several 
Southern officers and Confederate agents who no doubt had 
important papers with them. It was soon evident that the 
war steamer v/as the faster sailer, and visions of imprisonment 
for himself and confiscation of his vessel filled the mind of the 
Captain. Most of the passengers were equally alarmed. The 
Captain rushed into tlie cabin to consult Mr. Vallandigham. 
Mr. Y. inquired whether he had any British uniforms on 
board, and being informed that he had, suggested that he 
should clothe as many of his men as possible in these uniforms, 
and parade them up and down on deck, so as to produce the 
impression that his steamer was an English transport with 
troops aboard. The experiment wa^ immediately tried and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 315 

succoecled to a charm. The Captain of the American ship, 
perceiving the brilliant scarlet of the British army, and taking 
it for granted that the vessel was loaded with troops from 
England destined for some part of the British possessions, 
tacked and bore away, much to the relief of the Captain of the 
blockade-runner and most of his passengers. A false and 
ridiculous account of this affair was published by tlie enemies 
of Mr. Vallandigham several years afterwards, in which it was 
stated that he was greatly alarmed on that occasion, and so 
overjoyed at his escape from caj^ture that he shed tears and 
clasped the Captain of the vessel in warm embrace. There 
was not a word of truth in this. A moment's reflection will 
show its absurdity. Mr. Vallandigham had no cause for 
alarm ; his sentence was that he should be imprisoned if he 
came within the Federal lines, otherwise he was to be unmo- 
lested. His being found in a vessel going to Canada would 
not render him liable to any punishment. As to the story of 
childish joy at his escape and the ridiculous mode of exhibit- 
ing it, no one acquainted with liis perfect coolness in circum- 
stances the most exciting will be so credulous as to believe it. 
His capture would have resulted only in annoyance and tem- 
porary delay in reaching his place of destination. 

In Bermuda he spent ten days very pleasantly, and then 
by steamer went to Halifax, landing on the 5th of July. From 
Halifax by way of Truro he travelled to Pictou, and thence by 
steamer up the Gulf and river Saint Lawrence to Quebec, 
where, as in Bermuda and at Halifax, he Avas cordially and 
honorably received. A correspondent of a Xcw York paper, 
writing from Montreal, July 14, says: "As soon as it was 
known that Mr. Vallandigham Avas in Canada, Englislimen, 



316 LIFE OF CLEMEITT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Scotchmen, and Irishmen, who, as the sons of. men that for five 
hundred years fought for the trial by jur}^, knew the value 
of Magna Charta and of Habeas Corpus, and of the Petition 
of Rio-ht, met almost spontaneously to bear tribute to him in 
whose person these three great bulwarks of British liberty had 
been violated." At the Club House he Avas tendered and ac- 
cepted a very handsome entertainment, at which he met a 
number of the most distinguished gentlemen of Canada. The 
speech he made on that occasion is thus referred to by the same 
correspondent : — 

" ]\Ir. Vallandigham confined his remarks to general prin- 
ciples of liberty, law, Ilagna Charta, Habeas Corpus, with- 
out any personal applications to his own case, and dwelt upon 
how much the framers of the Constitution were guided by the 
British Barons of Runnymede, my Lord Coke, the extorters 
of the Right of Petition from King Charles, the persevering 
energy that drew out that British writ of liberty, the Habeas 
Corpus, &c. His remarks were admirable, and did honor to 
the American name. The people Avcre urgent that the demon- 
stration should be public, but Mr. Yallandigham would not 
consent to it. All Canada would have turned out if there had 
been time, to testify through him to Magna Charta and Habeas 
Corpus. At 11 P. M. ho went off in an extra train which 
Mr. Bridges had provided for him. 

"Our ^lontreal gentlemen Avere delighted with Mr. Val- 
landigham's understanding and comprehension of the great 
struggles Ave had in England to preserve British liberty, and 
which had cost our fiithers two revolutions, one of blood and 
one of peace, in Avhich we had dethroned a king and then a 
queen. One of the speakers, Mr. R , said, in compli- 
ment, the pleasure of meeting Mr. Vallandigham would fully 
repay his voyage across the Atlantic." 

]\Ir. Yallandigham arrived at Niagara Falls, Canada West, 
on the 15th of July, and stopped at the Clifton House. The 
following account of his arrival is given by a correspondent of 
the ChicaQ-o Times : — 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 317 

" Clifton House, Niagara Falls, C. W., 
July 16, 1863. 

" Mr. Vallancligliam arrived here yesterday morning. The 
appearance of his name upon the register caused the most in- 
tense excitement among the guests. The news of his arrival 
spread rapidly in the vicinity, and during yesterday and to-day 
hundreds of visitors called to pay their respects to him. 
Several parties of ladies and gentlemen have come over from 
the American shore. 

" The mighty cataract and the grand mountain scenery arc 
forgotten, the delightful drives are abandoned. The exiled 
statesman is the absorbing subject of interest and considera- 
tion. Eager groups, anxious to learn every particular of his 
eventful career, collect around the favored few wdio have been 
honored with personal interviews with the foremost man of the 
age. Crowds press upon him whenever his presence is acces- 
sible, to congratulate him upon his sublime moral achieve- 
ments and political prospects. 

" His manners are modest and unassuming. He has a kind 
word and genial greeting for all his friends. Yet his manners 
are not wanting in dignity befitting his position ; but the dig- 
nity is blended with cordial suavity, so that while he com- 
mands respect from every one, he also excites a feeling akin to 
love in all. 

" jSIr. Vallandigham was treated in all resj^ects as a ^wis- 
oner of war in the South, and permitted to depart on giving 
his parole. He succeeded in running the blockade from Wil- 
mington, North Carolina, about the middle of June, in a small 
steamer which took him to Bermuda. From the latter place 
he proceeded in a small steamer to Halifax, where ho arrived 
safely a few days ago, and took passage up the river St. Law- 
rence to Quebec, whence he came by rail to Clifton. 

" Hon. D. W. Voorhees, of Indiana, and Hon. Richard T. 
Merrick, of Chicago, were among the first to welcome him* on 
his arrival." 



Mr. Vallandigham immediately issued the following ad- 
dress to the Democracy of Ohio, accepting the nomination for 
Governor, and defining his position : — 



318 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"NiAGAKA Falls, C a nab a West, 
July 15, 1863. 
" To the Democracy of Ohio: 

"Arrested and confined for three weeks in the United 
States, a prisoner of State ; banished thence to the Confederate 
States, and there hekl as an alien enemy and prisoner of Avar, 
though on parole, fairly and honorably dealt with and given 
leave to depart, — an act possible only by running the block- 
ade at the hazard of being fired on by ships flying the flag of 
my own country, — I found myself first a freeman when on 
British soil. And to-day, under protection of the British flag, 
I am here to enjoy, and in part to exercise, the privileges and 
rights which usurpers insolently deny me at home. The shal- 
low contrivance of the weak despots at Washington, and their 
advisers, has been defeated. Nay, it has been turned against 
them ; and I, who for two years was maligned as in secret 
league with the Confederates, having refused when in their 
midst, under circumstances the most favorable, either to iden- 
tify myself with their cause or even so much as to remain, 
preferring rather exile in a foreign land, return now with alle- 
giance to my own State and Government, unbroken in word, 
thought or deed, ind with every declaration and pledge to you 
while at home, and before I was stolen away, made good in 
spirit and to the very letter. 

" Six weeks ago, when just going into banishment, because 
an audacious but most cowardly despotism compelled it, I ad- 
dressed you as a fellow-citizen. To-day, and from the very 
place then selected by me, but after wearisome and most peril- 
ous journeyings for more than four thousand miles by land 
and upon the sea — still in exile, though almost in sight of my 
native State — I greet you as your representative. Grateful 
certainly I am for the confidence in my integrity and patriotism 
implied by the unanimous nomination as candidate for Gov- 
ernor of Ohio which you gave me while I was yet in the Con- 
federate States. It was not misplaced; it shall never be 
abused. But this is the least of all considerations in times 
like these. I. ask no persona) sympathy for the personal 
Avrong. No, it is the cause of constitutional liberty and private 
right cruelly outraged beyond example in a free country, by 
the President and his servants, which gives public significancy 
to the action of your convention. Yours was indeed an act of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAIvI. 319 

justice to a citizen who for his devotion to the rights of the 
States and the liberties of the people, had been marked for 
destruction by the hand of arbitrary joower. But it was much 
more. It was an act of courage worthy of the heroic ages of 
the world ; and it was a spectacle and a rebuke to the usurping 
tyrants who, having broken up the Union, would now strilvc 
down the Constitution, subvert your jDresent Government, and 
establish a formal^and proclaimed despotism in its stead. You 
are the Eestorees axd Defendees of Constitutioxae 
Liberty, and by that proud title history will salute you. 

' ' I congratulate you upon your nominations. They whom you 
have placed upon the ticket with me are gentlemen of character, 
integrity, ability, and of tried fidelity to the Constitution, the 
Union, and to liberty. Their moral and political courage — a 
quality alwaj'S rare, and now the most valuable of public vir- 
tues — is beyond question. Every way, all these were nomina- 
tions fit to be made. And even jealousy I am sure will now 
be hushed, if I especially rejoice with you in the nomination 
of ]\Ir. Pugli as your candidate for Lieutenant-Governor and 
President of the Senate. A scholar and a gentleman, a soldier 
in a foreign war, and always a patriot ; eminent as a lawyer, 
and distinguished as an orator and a statesman, I hail his 
acceptance as an omen of the return of the better and more 
virtuous days of the Republic. 

" I endorse your noble platform — elegant in style, admir- 
able in sentiment. You present the true issue, and commit 
yourselves to the great mission just now of the Democratic 
party — to restore and make sure first the rights and liberties 
declared yours by your Constitutions. It is in vain to invite the 
States and people of the South to return to a Union without a 
Constitution, and dishonored and polluted by repeated and most 
aggravated exertions of tyrannic power; It is base in your- 
selves, and treasonable to your posterity, to surrender these 
liberties and rights to the creatures whom your own breath 
created and can destroy. Shall there be free sj^eech, a free 
press, peaceable assemblages of the i)eople, and a free ballot 
any longer in Ohio ? Shall the people hereafter, as hitherto, 
have the right to discuss ami condemn the principles and 
policy of the party — the ministry — the men who for the time 
conduct the Government, — to demand of their public servants 
a reckoning of their stewardshij), and to place other men and 



320 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

anotlier party in jiower at their supreme will and pleasure? 
Shall Order Thirty-eight or the Constitution be the supreme 
law of the land ? ^ And shall the citizen any more be arrested 
by an armed soldiery at midnight, dragged fiom wife and child 
and home to«a military prison ; thence to a mock militaiy trial; 
there condemned, and then banished as a felon for the exercies 
of his rio-hts ? This is the issue : you have nobly met it. It is 
the very question of free, popular government itself. It is the 
whole question : upon one side liberty, on the other despotism. 
The President, as the recognised head of his party, accepts the 
issue. Whatever he wills, that is law. Constitutions, State 
and Federal, are nothing ; acts of legislation nothing ; the 
judiciary less than nothing. In time of war there is but one 
will supreme — his will; but one law — military necessity, 
and he the sole judge. Military orders supersede the Consti- 
tution, and military commissions usurp the places of the ordi- 
nary courts of justice in the land. Nor are these mere idle 
claims. For two years and more, by arms they have been 
enforced. It was the mission of the weak but presumptuous 
Burnside — a name infamous forever in the ears of all lovers 
of constitutional liberty— to try the experiment in Ohio, aided 
by a Judge whom I name not, because he has brought foul 
dishonor iipon the judiciary of my country. In youi hands 
now, men of Ohio, is the final issue of the experiment. The 
party of the Administration have accepted it. By pledging 
support to the President, they have justified his outrages upon 
• liberty and the Constitution ; and whoever gives his vote for 
the candidates of that party commits himself to every act of 
violence and wrong on the part of the Administration Avhich he 
upholds ; and thus, by the law of retaliation, which is the law of 
might, Avould fairly forfeit his own right to liberty, personal and 
political, whensoever other men and another party shall hold 
the power. Much more do the candidates themselves. Suffer 
them not, I entreat you, to vade the issue ; and by the judg- 
ment of the people we will abide. 

"And now, finally, let me ask: what is the pretext for all 
the monstrous acts aiid claims of arbitrary power which you 
have so boldly and nobly denounced ? ' Military necessity.' 
But if, indeed, all these be demanded by military necessity, 
then, believe me, your liberties arc gone, and tyranny is per- 
petual. For, if this civil Avar is to terminate only by the sub- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 321 

jugation or submission of the South to force of arms, the in- 
fant of to-day will not live to see the end of it. No, in 
another way only can it be brought to a close. Travelling a 
thousand miles and more through nearly one-half of the Con- 
federate States, and sojourning for a time at widely different 
points, I met not one man, woman or child who was not 
resolved to perish rather than yield to the pressure of arms, 
even in the most desperate extremity. And whatever may and 
must be the varying fortune of the war, in all which I recog- 
nise the hand of Providence pointing visibly to the ultimate 
issue of this great trial of the States and people of America, 
they are better i)repared now every way to make good their 
inexorable purpose than at any period since the beginning of 
the struggle. These may, indeed, be unwelcome truths, but 
they are addressed only to candid and honest men. Neither, 
however, let me add, did I meet any one, whatever his opinions 
or his station, political or private, who did not declare his readi- 
ness, tclicn the tear shall have ceased and invading armies been 
icithdravn, to consider and discuss the question of reunion. 
And who shall doubt the issue of the argument ? I return, 
therefore, with my opinions and convictions as to war and 
peace, and my faith as to final results from sound policy and 
wise statesmanship, not only unchanged, but confirmed and 
strengthened. And may the God of heaven and earth so rule 
the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere that a Consti- 
tution maintained, a Union restored, and liberty henceforth 
made secure, a grander and nobler destiny shall yet be ours 
than that even which blessed our fathers in the first two ages 
of the Republic. 

*'C. L. Yallaxdigiiam." 

This address was received with unbounded enthusiasm, and 
the campaign in Ohio Avas entered upon with a spirit and 
energy unprecedented in the history of the countr}^, exceeding 
even the memorable campaign of 1840. Meetings were held 
throughout the State, attended by immense multitudes of 
people, and addressed by earnest and able speakers. From the 
papers of the times we make the following extracts, illustrating 
the intense feeling tliat everywhere prevailed. 
21 



322 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

[From the Crisis, August 5th.] 
"ROUSING MEETINGS EVERYWHERE. 

" Such meetings as are now seen of the Democracy every- 
where in this State have never before been witnessed ; were 
not even approached in the days of the political revolution 
of 1840. At Bellefontaine, on the 29th, the throng swelled 
to fifteen thousand. At Marysville, Union county, on Thurs- 
day, some ten thousand were present; and on Friday, at Dela- 
ware, the concourse ranged from fifteen to twenty thousand, 
with thirteen hundred vehicles in procession, and regiments of 
voters on horseback. The tide is up, and grows with every 
wave. The people are awake to the fact that their liberties are 
assailed, and it devolves upon themselves to save them. 

" At Circleville, on Saturday, the meeting reached 40,000 ! 
as estimated by those competent to judge. Mr. Pugh, Judge 
Green, and Mr. Fink, addressed this vast crowd, and the enthu- 
siasm and earnestness manifested spoke of a revolution in 
popular sentiment which would shake an empire already pro- 
claimed." 

[From the same, August 12th.] 

" DEMOCRATIC MEETINGS. 

" Hereafter we will endeavor to give more attention to an 
account of the various meetings in the State, and the way in 
which the noble redemption of the State from Abolition mis- 
rule goes on. Those abroad may rest assured that our speakers 
find the people everywhere ready to meet them even more than 
half-way. The most intense earnestness prevails in reference 
to the great cause. Men's doubts give way before the manifest 
determination of the people to assume full responsibility for 
doing anything that becomes men and citizens to defend and 
maintain the principles of the Union. The time for intimida- 
tion has about passed. If there are any cowards in our ranks, 
they are not at home. We hope it is felt, and believe it is, 
from one extremity of the State to the other, that the triumph 
of Yallandigham will be the greatest ever achieved in the 
name of civil and individual freedom. Feeling thus, it is no 
wonder that at every meeting ' an avalanche of the people ' 
is there ! 

''The largest meeting ever held in Hancock County gathered 
at Fiulay on the 1st. Over 14,000 people were there, and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 323 

weve ably addressed by Hon. F. C. LeBlond, the member of 
Congress of that district, and Colonel Mungen, in English, 
md Judge Lang of Tiffin, in German. They were all able 
md eloquent expositions of principle, and elicited repeated 
jursts of enthusiasm. The Democratic county convention met 
:he same day, and nominated a most excellent ticket. Probably 
lot a hundred were present who lived outside of the county, 
is the notice was short, and no half-fare trains running. 

" On Tuesday, 4th, the meeting at Troy, Miami County, 
kvas an immense success, far surpassing the expectations of the 
nost sanguine. Hon. George E. Pugh and William Eollet 
svere the principal speakers. 

" On the same day (4th) from three to five thousand as- 
sembled in council at Toledo. It was at this meeting that the 
aoble letter of the gallant Yallandigham was read, amid the 
most intense applause. Hon. S. S. Cox addressed the out-door 
^roAvd, while Hon. JMr. Pendleton enchained the attention of 
:he packed audience in the largest hall in the city. The 
Brough meeting of two weeks previous was tliro"\vn entirely in 
:he shade. 

" At Kenton, Hardin County, the meeting was an immense 
ifiair — the lowest estimate being twenty-five thousand. One 
i^housand horsemen were in the procession ; also two hundred 
ladies, adorned with scarfs of red, white, and blue, with the 
names of Yallandigham and Pugh on them. The procession 
was seven miles in length, with moving banners and forests of 
hickories. Two stands were in full blast. The speakers were 
Pugh, Eollet, LeBlond, Armstrong, and Shelby. An im- 
mense meeting was also held at night. 

" At Upper Sandusky, on the 7th, was held the largest 
meeting that ever met in Northern Ohio. Yrom forti/ to fifty 
f.housand were there. Twenty-four large hickory poles had 
been raised in the town and bore aloft the American flag, in- 
scribed Yallandigham and Pugh, Free Speech, Free Press, 
Free Discussion, the Constitution and Union forever." 

[From the same, Aug. 19.] 
"great democratic demonstrations in OHIO. 

" If large, enthusiastic and spontaneous meetings of the 
people are any indication of public feeling, Ohio would to- 
morrow, if an election were held, give Mr. Yallandigham and 



324 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

the wliole Democratic State Ticket at least thirty thousand 
majority on the home vote. 

" Last week, after our return from Niagara Falls and New 
York, finding things all right in our office, we concluded to 
take a run up into Knox and Ashland Counties, where Demo- 
cratic meetings were announced, to see how they looked and 
judge for ourself how the canvass was progressing. 

' ' We arrived at Frederick town, a few miles north of Mt. 
Vernon, late in the afternoon of Tuesday, and to our utter sur- 
prise found an assemblage of from 7,000 to 10,000 people, 
gentlemen and ladies. Such enthusiasm we had never before 
witnessed, and we soon found ourself handed over the heads 
of the people to the speakers' stand. It made our head fairly 
swim on casting our eyes over the excited and immense throng 
before us. The meeting had already been addressed by A. 
Banning Norton, Esq., an Old Line Whig who has joined the 
Democratic hosts in this campaign for 'personal liberty;' by 
Dr. Olds, the Hon. James R. Morris, and the able and eloquent 
T. J. Kenny, State Senator of the Ashland and Richland 
District. 

" Never before did we see such an interest taken in a candi- 
date as is felt in Mr. Vallandigham. It puts us very much 
in mind of the outburst for Kossuth on his arrival in this 
country to escape arrest by the Hainaus of Austria. If Mr. 
Vallandigham could be brought into Ohio, or any portion of 
the North, such demonstrations of popular applause as Avould 
be witnessed would surpass anything the world ever saw! 
Thank God, the spirit of liberty burns as brightly as ever in 
the American bosom, and let the American Hainaus not suj)- 
pose for a moment that they can suppress it. They can only 
intensify it by ^^ressure, and nothing more. 

" After the meeting in the afternoon closed, the young ladies 
at the residence of Mr. Rankin sang several of the finest jiolit- 
ical songs we ever heard; 'Vallandigham and Pugh;' 'The 
Constitution as it is,' &c. 

" The next day the speakers, with the exception of ISIr. 
Norton, proceeded to Haysville, Ashland County, where a simi- 
lar crowd of thousands were already congregated on their 
arrival. The same speakers were present, including Judge 
Bliss, the 'just judge,' elected to Congress from that District. 
Here we found the same wild enthusiasm for Vallandigham as 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 325 

in Knox County, participated in by all classes, male and female, 
old and young. In fact, language cannot do justice to what 
we saw and heard at these two meetings, while order the most 
complete was at all times observed. In fact, the excitement 
seemed more like a religious than a political enthusiasm, in 
which men, women and children seem to take an equal interest. 
" If the Democracy of Knox and Ashland can be beaten in 
good fellowship and enthusiasm, our majorities in Ohio are 
certain to reach fifty thousand." 



[From the same of the same date.] 
" VALLANDIGHAM. 

" From all points in the State come to us sounds of ' the 
increasing tread ^ of the Vallandigham Democracy. There is 
no rebutting the testimony borne on every breeze that Vallan- 
digham has become the watchword of civil liberty, and that 
the people are gathering about his banner as flocked the legions 
to Tell. And strange and hopeless indeed would be the infat- 
uation of Americans could they fail to come 'with shout and 
song ' to the support of him in whose person their every title 
to freedom and to citizenship has been violated and outraged. 
But there is no mistaking ' the signs of the times.' The people 
are awake not only to their own responsibility, to their own 
danger, but to the inspiration which in all ages has gathered 
ahout a chieftain struck by the hand of power for apostleship 
of human freedom and personal enfranchisement. Almost 
Nvithout notice in any part of the State, thousands flock to a 
Vallandigham meeting." 

AYe could fill scores of pages with accounts of meetings 
like these held in every part of the State. These we have 
given for the purpose of exhibiting the earnest spirit and deep 
enthusiasm that pervaded the people. 

Mr. Vallandigham remained at Niagara Falls till some time 
in August. The following notice of him appears in the cor- 
respondence of the New York News : — 



326 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANi)IGHAM. 

"NiAGAKA Falls, August 1, 1863, 
"To the Editors of the New York News: 

"An hour ago I ferried over Niagara river below the Falls, 
bathed my brow in the mist of the mighty cataract, and here I 
stand upon British soil, an unwilling witness to the humiliating 
fact that at least one American citizen here is more free beneath 
the protecting folds of the cross of St. George than he was ujjon 
his own native soil beneath the Stars and Stripes. 

"I have just paid my respects to that fearless champion of 
fi'ee speech, the first man whom a hostile Administration under 
the plea of 'military necessity' ever banished from his State to 
another of that portion of the country which the banishing 
power still claims as Federal territory, for the bold and fearless 
but truthful criticism of its policy. 

" I found Mr. Vallandigham at Niagara Falls (Canada side, 
of course), at the hotel of Mr. Davis, near ' Table Rock,' he 
having left the Clifton House a few days since. 

" My card secured me an immediate reception, and I was 
agreeably surprised to find him in such excellent health and 
spirits. Never in the proudest day of his power in Congress 
had I seen him more hopeful and tranquil. His social and 
commanding presence, his well-rounded, symmetrical figure, 
clear complexion, expressive eye, resolute mouth and chin, a 
forehead denoting high intellectual powers, presented an en- 
semble that had not suffered by its passage through 'Dixie.' 

" Since Mr. Vallandigham's arrival at the Falls, some three 
weeks since, the visits received have been a perfect ovation. 
Over fifteen hundred persons, distinguished men from all 
sections, have been here, and their errand has been no idle 
compliment. He has more honest friends to-day, exiled as he 
is, than the whole tribe of his maligners from tide-waiter up to 
the noisiest Abolitionist who is plundering the people. It is 
remarkable that he bears up under this tax upon physical 
energy so vvell." 

Towards the last of the month Mr. Vallandigham, after 
a brief tour down the lakes and the river St. Lawrence to 
Montreal and Quebec, selected Windsor, in Canada "West, op- 
posite Detroit, Michigan, as his place of sojourn. It was easy 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 327 

of access and convenient for communication witli Ohio and 
the Northwest, while the beautiful Detroit river and Lakes 
Erie and St. Clair, full of fish and fowl, and the thick forests 
around abounding in game, could afford healthful exercise for 
the body and pleasure to the mind. He arrived on the 24th, 
and the next day was visited by a large delegation of his 
fellow-citizens from Detroit, who gave him a cordial welcome. 
On their behalf Judge O'Flynn addressed him thus : — 

" On behalf of the gentlemen present, your friends and 
fellow-citizens of Detroit, who have thus gathered here M'ithout 
preconcert or j)reparation, I have the pleasure of presenting 
you their hearty greeting. In feeling and in sympathy they 
represent many thousands of American patriotic citizens, who 
deprecate the tyranny which exiled one of the chief citizens of 
our country, guilty of no offence, and in violation of the Con- 
stitution and the law. ... I doubt not. Sir, but that the 
record of your patriotic eiforts in support of free government, 
will constitute a brilliant page in American history. Posterity 
vfill revere your name, and will be emboldened by your ex- 
ample. Esteemed and honored at home, your fellow-citizens 
designated you to represent them in the Congress of the nation, 
and well they know and appreciate how faithfully and ably you 
discharged the high trust committed to you. . . . But how 
priceless is this exile since it has caused the usurpers of power 
to pause in their mad career, and has ner^^ed the arm and 
aroused the vigilance of freemen to defend the great corner- 
stone of free institutions — free speech and a free press ! " 

Mr. Vallandigham replied, thanking his fellow-citizens for 
their kindly welcome. He said it was gratifying personally, 
but much more as a testimony for the great cause of constitu- 
tional liberty. Very strange was the spectacle of an American 
citizen in exile, receiving a visit from his own countrymen 
upon foreign soil, and under the protection of a foreign flag, 
but in sight of his own country. "It is indeed," said JVIr. V., 



328 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" my country, and as dear to me as when last I trod its soil." 
It was not fitting that here he should discuss the political 
questions of that country. The great issue in this country and 
at home was, indeed, the question of personal and political 
liberty, secured in the one by Magna Charta, the Petition of 
Rio-ht, the statute of Habeas Corpus, and the Bill of Eights ; 
and in the other by the guarantees of our State and Federal 
Constitutions. In better times he would discuss them at home, 
with the ancient freedom of an American citizen. Of himself, 
though so cordially met and kindly referred to, he had noth- 
ing to say. He was nothing ; the cause everything. A great 
struggle was going on in the United States to regain lost lib- 
erties — freedom of speech, of the press, and of public as- 
semblages, and to maintain free elections. He had great faith 
in the triumph of the people, faith in Providence, and faith in 
the race Avhich, in England and America, had successfully sup- 
ported their rights and liberties for six hundred years. The 
race would still vindicate itself in the United States. The 
right of free election, and all that preceded and was essential 
to it, must be maintained — peaceably if possible, hit it must 
be maintained at all hazards. He counselled obedience to the 
Constitution and to all laws, and the enforcing of that obe- 
dience by all men, those in authority and those not in authority. 
The ballot was the true and proper remedy in the United 
States for all political wrongs, and it was all-sufficient. But 
when the ballot is denied, then the right of revolution begins 
— not the right only, but the sacred duty. Give us a free 
ballot and we want no more. Through this we will regain 
liberty, maintain the Constitution, uphold the laws, and restore 
the Union j and thus we will support the Government which our 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 329 

fathers made,,. Claiming the fullest right at home to criticise 
and condemn the men and acts of the Administration, and 
meaning at the proper time to again exercise it to the utmost, 
he, yet on foreign soil, had no word of bitterness to speak. 
He would only remember now that they represented his 
country, and forbear. 

The canvass in Ohio, as has been already stated, was con- 
ducted with extraordinary spirit. Large and enthusiastic Dem- 
ocratic meetings were held in every part of the State, and 
were addressed by able and eloquent speakers. Mr. Vallan- 
digham earnestly desired to mingle in the conflict, but his 
friends, fearful of the consequences, would not consent ; yet so 
anxious was he to take part in the canvass, that on one occa- 
sion, without their consent, against their advice, he made an 
attempt to return (an account of which will be given in the 
next chapter), but was unsuccessful. He, however, sent able 
and spirited letters to several different meetings, which were 
published and widely circulated. At a Republican meeting in 
Columbus, Mr. Brough, his competitor for the office of Gov- 
ernor, had declared that the election of Mr. Vallandigham 
would be an " invitation to the rebels " to come and take pos- 
session of the soil, and tliat it would "inaugurate civil war in 
Ohio." 

In a letter dated Windsor, C. W., Sept. 15, 1863, to a 
mass meeting of the Democracy convened in Dayton on the 
l7th of September, he thus replies : — 

"First. The 'invitation to rebels in arms' which my 
election Avill signify, will be to lay down their arms and 
return to the old Union and to obedience to and protection 
under the Constitution, laws and flag, secure from Abolition y 
intermeddling and agitation as before the war, and from con- k 



330 LIFE OF cle:j:ext l. vallandigham. 

scription, confiscation, execution, emancipation, negro equality, 
and all exertions of arbitrary, despotic power since. 

" Second. There will be no ' civil war ' in Ohio if I am 
elected Governor, unless Mr. Brough and his party inaugurate 
it ; in which event we will ' crush out the rebellion ' in a very 
much shorter space of time than they have employed in putting 
down the ' slaveholders' rebellion.' If, however, he means that 
they will ^ secede ' from the State by voluntary exile to Canada 
or elsewhere, there will be no ' coercion ' in that event. But 
the threat, if intended to intimidate, is as idle as the wind : if 
meant seriously, it is time that the people should know it, that 
they may affix the mark of Cain upon the foreheads of these 
new conspirators against the ballot-box. In any event, he 
whom a majority of the 'qualified electors' of Ohio may 
choose for their Governor will be inaugurated, and the vast 
mass of the people without distinction of party will aid, if , 
need be, in the work of keeping the peace of the State and 
carrying out the fundamental maxim of popular governments 
that the ' majority must govern.' For let Mr. Brough and all 
others who would defeat the will of the people take notice, that 
'there is a mighty mass of men in Ohio w^iose nerves are 
strung up like steel,' who mean that the man who is the choice 
of the people shall be the people's Governor. Should that 
choice fall upon me, all the duties of the office shall be faith- 
fully and fearlessly discharged. I would myself obey the 
Constitution and laws, and see to it that all others obeyed them 
within her limits and jurisdiction. The courts should be open 
and restored once more to their rightful authority; justice 
administered without denial or delay, and the military in strict 
subordination to the civil power. Habeas corpus should be 
respected, no citizen arrested except upon due process of law, 
or held except for trial by the civil tribunals, and none kid- 
napped from the State. 

" But while the rights of the State and the liberties of her 
citizens should be thus strictly enforced, the constitutional and 
lawful authority and rights of the Federal Government should 
be obeyed and respected with scrupulous fidelity, no matter 
who administered it. Whatever the Administration have a 
right under the Constitution and laws to demand or expect 
from the State Executive, should be promptly and exactly 
rendered. In short, I would adopt and thoroughly carry out 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 331 

the two maxims upon this subject laid down by Mr. Jefferson 
in his inaugural in 1801 : — 

" First. ' The support of the State Governments in all their 
rights as the most competent administrators of our domestic 
concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican ten- 
dencies.' 

" Second. ' The preservation of the General Government 
in its whole constitutional vigor as the sheet-anchor of our 
peace at home and safety abroad.' " 

In a letter to a similar meeting a few days after, he says : — 

" I counsel you, one and all, to stand by the Union, main- 
tain the Constitution, support the Government, and obey the 
laws. But in the name and by the memory of yom" fathers, 
and as you would secure the blessings of liberty to yourselves 
and your children, I invoke you to defend the right of election 
and the ballot-box by all the means which the exigencies of 
the case may demand. The hour of your trial has at last 
come. Be firm and be ready. And God grant that the spirit 
of the patriots and freemen of other ages and countries, of the 
heroes of Greece and Rome, the spirit of Bruce and Tell, of 
Hampden and Sydney, of Henry, and Washington and Jackson, 
may be found to survive yet in the men of the present genera- 
tion in America ; and thus that both the form and the substance 
of constitutional liberty and free popular government be still 
preserved and made secure among us." 

About the same time a meeting was held in New Lisbon. 
The following incident in connection ^Yith that meeting, we 
take from the Wellsville Patriot : — 

" vallandigham's bieth-place. 

" As the Democratic procession in Xew Lisbon on Thursday 
last passed the residence of Mrs. Vallandigham, a comfortable 
two-story brick, surrounded with shade trees and tastefully 
arranged shrubbery, we observed suspended across the gateway 
a plain white muslin banner, bearing the simple inscription 
which stands at the head of this paragraph, and upon the 
grassy lawn, near the door of the old homestead, now rendered 



332 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

dear to every freeman, stood the aged mother of Hon. C. L. 
Vallandigham, whose name and fame is fanailiar to the civilised 
world as the great apostle and champion of human rights 
during the reign of terror and high-handed usurpations of the 
Lincoln Administration. To Mrs. V., who is now more than 
* three-score years and ten/ the 17th day of September, 1863, 
was a proud day. What must have been her feelings when 
she Avitnessed that every one, perhaps, of that great procession 
of freemen, as they passed that plain, unassuming banner, in- 
voluntarily sent forth their hearty huzzas in honor of her 
exiled and persecuted son ! and that procession, long and 
enthusiastic as it was, was but a moiety of the honest sons of 
Ohio whose inmost hearts beat in unison with theirs. ' Vallan- 
digham's Birth Place.' \yhat associations crowd around it! — 
the once residence of an aged divine who has long since been 
gathered to his fathers, and now the residence of his widow, who, 
like the mother of Washington, imparted the nobleness of her 
own soul to her son. By her instructions in morals, in religion, 
in purity of purpose and honesty of intentions, from convic- 
tions of duty, she raised her son Clement ; but little did she 
think when bestowing but a mother's care upon him, that 
before he had scarcely reached the meridian of life, that through 
official persecution and banishment from his native State and 
the home of his adoption, he would become the admired and 
beloved of millions. But such are the mysterious providences 
of God. Just in time for the Colonies to throw oif the yoke 
of Great Britain, He gave an oppressed and tax-ridden people 
a leader wdio conducted them through a successful struggle of 
seven years for freedom, for liberty and independence; and it 
may be that He has sent us a second deliverer in the person of 
C. L. Yallandigham, from all those terrible wrongs and out- 
rages which the people are now suffering at the hands of usur- 
paticwi and arrogance. * Vallandigham's Birth Place ' is now 
consecrated and classical ground; and whether the terrible 
struggle through which this country is passing s-hall result in 
the triumph of freedom or despotism, the present century will 
not have passed into eternity until pilgrimages will be made 
from every point of the compass where the fire of liberty is 
nnquenched, and sages and patriots will revere the spot and 
love to look upon it as every freeman does the hallowed grounds 
of Mt. Vernon and Monticello, the Hermitage, or Ashland." 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 333 

The enthusiasm for Mr. Yallandighara, as exhibited in the 
tremendous outpourings of the j^eople in every part of the State, 
greatly alarmed the Administration. But they determined that 
he should not be elected if force or fraud could prevent it. It 
was the design of the President at one time to attempt to con- 
trol the election by force, as in Kentucky, and the suspension 
of the writ of habeas corpus in every State was the first step 
in that direction. But the firm front shown by the Democratic 
party, and their fixed purpose to resist by arms, if necessary, 
compelled him to change the scheme from ibrce to fraud, and 
through the joint aid of secret "Union Leagues" and the War 
Department his success was complete. For although Mr. 
Vallandigham received a larger vote by many thousands than 
had ever before been given to a Democratic candidate for Gov- 
ernor of Ohio, yet the vote of the State was recorded against 
liim by a very large majority. The friends of the Administra- 
tion had repeatedly declared that they could better sustain the 
loss of a battle, or even of a whole campaign in the field, than 
to lose the political control of Ohio by his election, and they 
acted accordingly. Such stupendous frauds as they perpetrated 
had never been committed in any political canvass in the 
United States. Hundreds of soldiers that would have cast 
their ballots for Mr. Vallandigham were in one Avay or another 
prevented. Thousands of men who were not citizens of Ohio 
were allowed to vote against him ; and whole companies of 
soldiers from other States boasted not only that they had voted 
in Ohio, but that at several different polls they had helped to 
swell the majority in favor of his competitor. The increase of 
the Democratic vote over that of 1862* was 1132; the increase 

* Tlie vote for Secretary of State, there being no election for Governor 
in 1863. 



334 LIFE OF CLEMEInT l. vallandigham. 

of the Kepublican vote over that of 1862 was 68,461 ! this being 
the home vote, not inchiding the army vote, which would make 
the disparity of increase still greater, and furnish still clearer 
evidence of enormous frauds. 

Under these circumstances Mr. Vallandigham's election was 
impossible. Nor is it believed that the election of any other 
Democrat would have been permitted. Mr. Vallandigham's 
peace principles may have deprived him of some votes, but not 
many. He was cordially supported by General George W. 
Morgan and other gallant officers in the army, though they 
did not endorse his views in regard to the war ; and Demo- 
cratic soldiers in general voted for him wherever the free exer- 
cise of the ballot was allowed them. In the 57th regiment, 
one of the most gallant regiments in the army, he received a 
majority of the votes cast, and in the State he received a larger 
vote by between twenty-five and thirty thousand than was given 
to the Democratic candidate for Governor two years before, who 
favored a vigorous prosecution of the war. 

The result was immediately made known to Mr. Vallan- 
dio-hara who the next day issued the following address to the 
Democracy of Ohio : — 

^'Democrats of Ohio: — You have been beaten — by what 
means it is idle now to inquire. It is enough that while tens 
of thousands of soldiers were sent or kept within your State, 
or held inactive in camp elsewhere, to vote against you, the 
Confederate enemy were marching upon the capital of your 

country. , , , 

" You were beaten ; but a nobler battle for constitutional 
liberty and free popular government never was fought by any 
people. And your unconquerable firmness and courage, even 
in the midst of armed military force, secured you those first 
of freemen's rio-ht — free speech and a free ballot. The con- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 335 

spiracy of the fifth of May fell before you. Be not discouraged ; 
despair not of the Republic. Maintain your rights; stand 
firm to your position ; never yield up your principles or your 
organization. Listen not to any who would have you lower 
your standard in the hour of defeat. No mellowing of your 
opinions upon any question, even of policy, will avail anything 
to conciliate your political foes. They demand nothing less 
than an absolute surrender of your principles and your organi- 
zation. Moreover, if there be any hope for the Constitvition 
or liberty, it is in the Democratic party alone; and your fellou- 
citizens in a little while longer will see it. Time and events 
will force it upon all, except those only who profit by the 
calamities of their country. 

" I thank you, one and all, for your sympathies and your 
suffrages. Be assured that though still in exile for no oflence 
but my political opinions, and the free expression of them to 
you in peaceable public assembly, you will find me ever stead- 
fast in those opinions, and true to the Constitution and the 
State and country of my birth. 

" C. L. Vallandigham. 

''Windsor, C. W., October Ur 

On the same day he wrote a letter to his wife, from which 
we make some extracts : — 

" I am and shall remain as calm and unmoved as the un- 
ruffled waters of the river and the serene bright sunshine of 
this beautiful October morning. If you will be calm, my dear 
wife, and bear this light affliction with firmness, I shall not for 
myself suffer a moment's annoyance. For the present we can 
sojourn here, and I have made a most agreeable arrangement 
to occupy Mr. R,.'s residence, all furnished, along with Col. S. 
I have enough to support me for a year to come. As to the 
iwiwYe, posterity tvill vote for me, and there will be neither chance 
nor motive for violence or fraud. Bat I am confident also that 
after some time be passed I shall have justice and hold the power 
both. No man ever more than I learned the lesson ' to labor 
and to wait.' Two years ago few dared name me kindly : now 
millions praise, I will not say revere me. And yet I am but 
just entering upon the full vigor of mature manhood, and in 
the course of nature and the providence of God have manv 



336 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

years yet before me. I mourn, indeed, over what I but too 
plainly foresee to be the calamities near at hand for my country. 
She is about to add one more to the many lessons of history 
which teach us that no people ever recover liberty once sur- 
rendered, except in the baptism of blood. It seems to be a 
divine law that without shedding of blood there is no remis- 
sion of the sin of political servitude. I am reminded of the 
last sentence of my sjjeech of January last, 14th. I fear it will 
prove to have been prophetic. But I will not yield up hope 
till the last extremity. It is indeed a melancholy spectacle to 
see so many people eager to be made slaves, and all the rest 
overborne by fraud and violence. But there never was a nobler 
contest waged for liberty and the right than by the Democracy 
of Ohio. All cannot be lost as long as such men, so many in 
number and animated by such a spirit, survive. In one way 
or another they will regain all. . . . And now, my dear wife, 
be still of good cheer, be calm, be firm, and wait." 

On the 14th of November a large body of the students of 
the University of Michigan paid Mr. Yallandigham a formal 
visit at AVindsor. They were received by him in the dining- 
room of the Hirons House, which was well filled by a select 
audience, embracing many of the leading citizens of Windsor 
and Detroit. A correspondent of the Hillsdale Democrat thus 
describes the visit. After some preliminary remarks in regard 
to the occasion, the writer says : — 

" We marched up to the Hirons House, where we found a 
room at our command, having been prepared for us by Mr. 
Vallandigham. We were conducted to the room by the gen- 
tlemanly proprietor, and as soon as we had all 'become seated, 
a side door opened, and the statesman, the martyr, and the 
exiled patriot of the nineteenth century, stood before us ; exiled 
for no other reason than that of loving his country too well to 
stand idly by and not lift his hand or voice as he saw rights 
which were in accordance with the spirit and the policy of the 
Government — rights which were guaranteed not only by 
the Constitution of the United States, but by the Constitutions 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 337 

of eacli and every State — rights which were held as dear to the 
people as their own lives, for without their rights, as the last two 
years have clearly shown, the ' life, liberty and happiness ' of the 
people were worthless — grossly violated. I confess I was some- 
what disappointed in the appearance of the man. I had expected 
a tall, rather slim, and a very proud-looking man — perhaps I 
may say fierce-looking, eccentric in manners and dress. But 
on the contrary I saw a man neatly and fashionably dressed, 
with smiling open countenance, and nothing about him very 
forcible or striking save his eye. I think I have never in my 
whole course of life seen an eye which was like it in every 
particular, — very large, full and round. It is constantly be- 
traying the thoughts of his mind and the feelings of his heart. 
It gleamed and sparkled as he enumerated his wrongs ; and 
it trembled and filled with a tear as he pictured his country in 
the future. 

" A member of the class addressed him, telling him of our 
sympathising with him in his wrongs as a fellow-citizen, and 
of our appreciation of him as a fearless and conscientious 
champion of constitutional rights. Mr. Vallandigham then 
arose and essayed to speak, but could not ; his lip trembled 
and a tear stood in his eye. He raised himself to his full 
height, and looked around for a single moment. That moment 
I never shall forget. There was not even a breath dra^vn — 
all was still as death. Perhaps it was weakness in me; if so, 
we were all weak, for there was not a dry eye in that large 
crowd. We saw before us a soul, generous, noble, true; a 
soul whose every throb was for his country ; a soul that com- 
muned with every one present, conveying ideas clothed in the 
eloquence of a silence that drew tears even from reporters' eyes. 
^Friends,' said he. The spell was broken — his voice was 
again under his control ; and for a full half-hour we sat there, 
never stirring, hardly breathing, listening with every faculty 
alive to catch the eloquent words which conveyed thoughts 
almost inspired. Perhaps it was the occasion, perhaps the 
emotion of the speaker, that had such an effect upon all present. 
I say, it might have been this that had such an influence over 
us that we were far from criticism. But I cannot attribute 
it wholly to this, but in part to a feeling of humbleness we all 
have when in the presence of a superior mind. 

" Long Avill the participants in that excursion remember it, 

22 



338 LIFE OF CLEME^'T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Long will it be before they forget the mighty truths that a 
mighty man impressed upon them, in the sincerity, earnestness 
and eloquence of one who felt their worth." 

Mr. C. A. Buskirk, on behalf of the students, delivered a 
most appropriate and eloquent address, to which Mr. Vallan- 
digham made the following reply: — 

" I thank you, young gentlemen, for this visit; I thank you. 
Sir, especially, Mr. Buskirk, for the compliments so hand- 
somely expressed on behalf of your fellows. The applause of 
the young is the highest praise — they speak the language of 
the coming generation, and anticipate the judgment of poster- 
ity. To that judgment, if it so be that my name shall chance 
to live in the record of these times, I long since appealed : and, 
meantime, am willing to abide the scrutiny which must precede 
it. Without further personal allusion, therefore, in reply, 
allow me to pass to another subject, and if it be in my power, 
thus to change a visit of ceremony into one perhaps not alto- 
gether without profit. 

" You are students. Some of you still pm-sue your classical 
and scientific studies; others prepare yourselves for professional 
pursuits ; all of you are eager to rush into the great world 
and be men. Yet in a little while, when you have borne its 
buffettings with lusty sinews, not one of you but will exclami 
with a sigh — 

' All, happy years ! I would I were a boy again.' 

" But in the battle of life there is no retreat, and the brave 
spirits among you will press forward, and the weak falter and 
perish; and just in proportion as you are disciplined every 
way, you will be ready to meet whatever fortune may betide 
you. ' Eedeem the time.' There is no injunction more sug- 
gestive. So many days and years you have in pawn to the 
Almighty Maker of heaven and earth; and those only are 
reckoned redeemed which arc spent profitably either to the body 
or the mind. Youth is not the season for ease and pleasure, 
but for labor and self-denial. Whoever has practised these 
hardy virtues when a boy and in early manhood, will, at forty, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 339 

sound in mind and body, find the lawful and virtuous pleasures 
of life full of sweetness. Horace was right : multa tulitfecitque 
pucr. 

" The more ingenuous among you incur another, and widely 
differing hazard. You have endured heat and cold; have 
refrained from lust and wine; have abjured pleasure, or rather 
have found it in labor and study. Your vigils have ' out- 
\vatched the bear.' But youthful ambition is eager and impa- 
tient. It sees nothing but Fame's proud temple, and forgets 
that it shines afar. It sees not the long and wearisome leagues 
of hill and valley, of forest and rock, of thicket and jungle, 
which lie between the goddess and her worshippers. It counts 
every moment's delay and difficulty on the way as a moment 
lost. There is, indeed, a false goddess whose fame is near and 
easy of access. Hard by is the altar of Mammon. Fraud, 
falsehood and violence are their joint sibyls and priests. A 
tumultuous crowd of idolatrous and abject worshippers throng 
around. But notoriety is not fame, and lier devotees soon 
perish. Not such let your ambition be, but rather that which 
Pope, and after him Lord Mansfield, proclaimed, ' the pursuit 
of noble ends by noble means,' and yours, too, that popularity 
which follows, not that which is run after. But to obtain this 
you must learn early that most difficult of all lessons — to 
labor and to wait. At twenty you think forty an old age. At 
forty, if you have disciplined your minds and not abused your 
bodies, you will find yourselves younger but far wiser than you 
are to-day ; and the hour of your death will seem more distant 
and give you less concern. You will feel that there is yet a 
life-time before you ; and if you are of a strong will and brave 
spirit, and worthy of a name to live, your past failures and 
defeats you will regard then as but probation and discipline, 
and indeed as so many assurances of final triumph. Press 
on ! but not in haste. The master of Ravenswood chose 
a wise motto and not inapt coat of arms — a bull's head, and 
* I bide my time.' In one other thing be not mistaken. You 
are not about to finish your studies. When you take leave of 
the University you but begin them. No man ever attained 
great and enduring eminence without study, not ahvays of 
books. Men of action have not leisure at all times for books. 
But they arc students, nevertheless, of the men and things 
around them ; and books are but the ^mtten records of thino-s 



340 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and men remote, or of the past. But they have this advantage, 
that whatever they record has passed through the alchemy of 
the great minds by whom they were written. And, more- 
over, in them we study men and things, divested of the 
prejudices, of the bigotries, and the self-interested influences 
of that which is present in time or near in space. Especially 
is this true of history — the most amplifying, liberalising in 
its efiect upon the mind and soul of all studies. He who 
remains a bigot in anything has read history to little purpose. 
And he who would comprehend the present and discern the 
future, must give his days and nights to this study. Prophecy 
uninspired is but history anticipated. Read history and learu 
that the patriot, the hero, the statesman, the orator whom you 
reverence or admire in the pages of Plutarch and Livy, or of 
Hume, Gibbon and Macaulay, was reviled and persecuted in 
his own day and suffered death, it may have been, at the hands 
of the men of his own generation. Ponder, too, the wisdom 
of Moses who before the pleasures and honors of the king's 
court preferred rather the Red Sea and forty years in the 
wilderness, and death and an unknown grave, that he might 
become a great law-giver and a founder of a new religion and 
of a powerful people. 

" Most of you young gentlemen have read the usual course 
of ' ancient classics.' It is the fashion of our times to decry 
this study. But aside from the perennial pleasure through 
life which he receives who seeks these precious fountains, their 
practical value also will not be questioned by him who reflects 
that our whole language, and especially our scientific nomen- 
clature, is derived largely from the Greek and Latin, and that 
our entire literature is pervaded by the spirit of these classics, 
and full of quotations and allusions drawn from them. Cicero's 
magnificent eulogy upon the studies which Archias taught is 
not at all exaggerated when ajjplied to the Grecian and Roman 
writings which have come down to us. If the modern sculptor 
study the Apollo Belvedere and the Hying Gladiator, why shall 
not the modern student learn the language of the men who 
chiseled these wonderful creations out from the solid marble ? 
But most valuable as the mere discipline may be, it is not 
enough that you content yourselves with the usual course now 
prescribed in the school or the college. These m-itings must 
be a study more or less through life. Let not any one say 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 341 

that ho has ' no time.' There is always time and a way for 
Avhatever a strong-willed, diligent man may choose to under- 
take. What is most wanted is a judicious economy of time, 
and a wise division of it in the multiplicity of employments, so 
that but one thing shall be done at a time. A majority of you, 
young gcntiemen, arc preparing yourselves for professional 
pursuits. Whoever would become a Christian clergyman, let 
him j^reach the evangely of Bethlehem. Let him confine him- 
self to his legitimate duties and aspire to be the most faithful 
and exemplary of the men of his calling. Whoever would 
practise surgery and medicine, let his ambition be to reach as 
near as possible or to excel the acquirements and skill of the 
great men who in ancient and modern times have been the 
ornaments of that profession. The Novum Organum of medi- 
cine remains to be written, and he who has to write it lias not 
as yet appeared. Why should he not be an American ? Why 
not adorn the University of Michigan? And you, young 
gentlemen, who prepare for the profession of law, will have a 
nobler theatre to act in than any who have gone before you in 
the United States. Out of the terrible revolution which now 
convulses every part of our unhappy land, will arise questions 
of constitutional and statute law, of personal liberty, of private 
right, of property, of life, grander, more numerous, more infi- 
nite in variety and more perplexing than heretofore in any age 
or country. If just now 'amid arms laws are silent,' in your 
day, at least, should free govermnent happily in any form 
survive among us, arms will again yield to the toga and laws 
reign supreme. With diligence, therefore, fixed faith and 
unalterable purpose, prepare yourselves for the destiny which 
lies before you, to the end that in the next generation you may 
be among the number of those who upon the Bench and at the Bar 
shall restore and bear aloft to higher renown the already illus- 
trious standard of British and American forensic learning and 
eloquence. Cowardice and servility before Executive power 
were the disgrace of the English bar and bench in the days of 
the Stuarts, and these, threatening now the honor and the 
independence of the American judiciary, are among the most 
alarming portents of the times. But remember that while 
along with the great Hampden the name of the honest and 
fearless Coke and of his noble wife still survive in honor, the 
time-serving and unjust judges who sat with him and yielded 



342 LIFE OF CLEMEIS'T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to political expedience and ' military necessity/ have perished 
from history or are remembered only to be execrated. The 
blessed memory of Lord Hale js still fragrant ; while the name 
of the bloody Jeffries, who escaped death upon the felon's 
scaffold only by dying miserably in a felon's cell, is the oppro- 
brium of the English bench. Algernon Sydnay died as a 
convicted traitor; but in a little while his execution was 
adjudged judicial murder, and posterity for six generations 
has held him in reverence as a patriot. Finch, King James 
the Second's Attorney-General, procured the conviction and 
death of the pure and virtuous Lord Russell as a conspirator 
against the Government; but eight years afterwards, when he 
would have relieved himself in Parliament from the odium of 
the act, t'he indignant clamor of the whole House forced him in 
shame and confusion to resume his seat, and Russell still lives in 
England and America as a martyr to liberty. Your courage, 
your fortitude, your manhood will also some day be severely 
tried. But then remember Curran, whose fame brightens just 
as the memory of the venal placemen and barrLsters around 
him rots Avith each revolving year, and who when menaced in 
court by a file of soldiers, clattering their muskets as he ad- 
dressed the jury in defence of one charged with treason, ex- 
claimed in manly defiance.: 'You may assassinate, but you 
cannot intimidate me.' Read, too, the speeches and admire 
and imitate the heroic Erskine, the greatest of the English 
barristers, who against the Avhole power of the Executive in 
time of both foreign Avar and rebellion, maintained for years 
the rights and liberties of Englishmen with undaunted intrep- 
idity. Prepare yourselves by continual study of the characters 
and noble emulation of the examples of these and other great 
and good men of the past for like scenes in your own day. 
Nerve your hearts now for the strviggle. But remember that 
ability, however eminent, and intellectual discipline, however 
exact, are not enough. Without pure morals, correct habits 
and fixed integrity, you cannot endure the trial. Be virtuous, 
be pious ; I use the word in no narrow, sectarian or theological 
sense, but in that Avhich Virgil means when he calls ^neas 
' pious,' a piety which belongs to no one sect, nor time, nor 
clime, nor country, but which everywhere and at all times 
renders to God, and self, and man, whatever is due, and does 
it in the very spirit of the Sermon on the Mount. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 343 

" But, young gentlemen, while I have thus addressed you 
as students, j^reparing yourselves for the ordinary business and 
professions of life, I well know that at any time many of you 
would be, and in times of such tremendous import as are just 
now upon us in our own country, all of you are j)rofoundly 
interested in politics. Probably you give to them more of 
your thoughts than to any of your collegiate or professional 
studies. I know, too, that many of you even now look eagerly 
forward to the time when you will pass from your professions 
into political life. That is the goal of your ambitious longings. 
Your hearts are fixed upon it. It is an honorable, a holy 
ambition ; an ambition not to be extinguished, but to be regu- 
lated. He is a false teacher who would tell the ingenuous, vir- 
tuous and public-spirited youth of tlie country that the political 
service of that country is fit only for the vulgar, the imjiure, 
the corrupt. As there are hypocrites in the pulpit, empirics 
in medicine, pettifoggers at the bar, and pretenders everywhere, 
so tlicre are demagogues in political life. But there is as well 
a morality, a philosophy, a science in politics far above the 
circle of these reptiles. Unhappily the low standard of capacity 
and morals set up and denounced by those who decline public 
life, and practically but too often acknowledged by politicians, 
is another of the evil portents which threaten our country. Of 
the corrupting influences of avarice at all times I need not 
speak. But more debasing and dangerous still, in seasons of 
great public commotion, is the execrable vice of fear. All these 
combined make up that most loathsome of all the objects of 
reproach and scorn, a ^scurvy politician.' He has borne the 
same odious character in every country and age. Among the 
Greeks he once courted popularity or place by pomting out the 
smugglers of figs, and was cursed as both spy and informer, 
and thence gave a name to the Avhole class of demagogues. In 
Eome he headed every petty popular tumult, and clamored 
fiercely for a division of lands and goods. Curran described 
him in his day in felicitous phrase as ' one who, buoyant by 
putrefaction, rises as he rots.' He is the vermin, the insect of 
politics, and amid the heats of civil war and convulsion, turns 
into life thick as gnats in the summer evening air. If any among 
you — and I speak to those who would aspire to be leaders 
among their countrymen — have neither the capacity nor the 
ambition to be statesmen, let him at least not stoop to become 



344 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

a demagogue. Preach, heal, try causes, work, but scorn to be 
one of that number who know nothing of politics except the 
passions and personalities which they excite. If not able to 
argue upon principles, measures, policies, debate not at all. If 
you cannot soar, do not creep. Whoever discusses only men in 
politics is always largely a slanderer. 

*' Principles, not men, is not indeed altogether a sound maxim, 
though little, liable to be abused, since personalities always make 
up so large and controlling an element in mere partisan politics. 
Better say, princijjles and men. It is easy to be a politician or 
demagogue — sail with the wind, float with the current, look 
not to the compass, neither lift up eyes to the heavens where 
the constellations and the pole star, bright, glorious emblems 
of God, and truth, and the right, still shine steadfast, im- 
movable, just as they shone in the beginning of time. Poeta 
nascitar. So it is with the demagogue. But the statesman 
must be made as well as born. His voyage is through mid- 
ocean and in storm. He sails under orders. His port is ascer- 
tained and prescribed before he sets out, and it is his duty to 
reach it; and so, like the majestic ocean steamer, he sails on, and 

' Against the wind, against the tide,. 
Still steadies with an upright keel.' 

" Demosthenes, more than two thousand years ago, in his 
great oration for the crown, well distinguished between these two 
characters, declaring that while they were alike in nothing, 
they differed chiefly in this : that the statesman boldly and 
honestly proclaimed his opinions before the event, and thus 
made himself responsible to fortune, to the times, to his coun- 
trymen, to the world ; while the sycophant or demagogue was 
silent till the event had happened, and then governed his speech 
and his conduct accordingly. And now allow me to add, that 
though you may be patriots and yet not statesmen, the great 
statesman is always a patriot. His love of country is as well 
a principle as an emotion. Duty enters largely into it, hence 
it is stable, enduring. It is not sensational, certainly not a 
mere feeling of gratitude ; least of all in the meaning of that 
word, as defined by Dr. Johnson, ' a lively sense of favors yet 
to be received.' He loves his country both wisely and well. 
He never sacrifices her real though remote interest to a popular 
clamor, and still less at the demand of those who hold the 



,LIFB OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 345 

power. Neither will he corrupt the virtue nor tarnish the 
honor of his country to serve her mere sordid interests. Rather 
will he imitate the example of Aristides, who, reporting to the 
Athenians that a certain proposition was indeed for their im- 
mediate advantage but would bring dishonor upon the State, 
counselled that they would reject it, 

" I have said nothing about * loyalty.' It is a word which 
belongs justly but only to kingly governments. I can com- 
prehend loyalty to a king, and especially to a queen, but as an 
American I choose to adhere to the good and honest old repub- 
lican word ' patriotism,' and to cherish the virtue which it has 
always been used to express. Aspire, then, young gentlemen, you 
who would pursue a jDublic course, to be patriot statesmen. 
Have faith — absolute, unquestioning, immovable — that faith 
which speaks to itself in the silence and calm of the heart's 
own beating, saying, if not to-day or this time, then to-morrow, 
or next, or some otlier day, at some other time, in some other way, 
all will be well. Without this no man ever achieved greatness. 
Be mcorruptible in your integrity, be inexorable in your delib- 
erate, well-considered purposes, be appalled by no difficulties. 
Amplify your minds, but still more, be great in soul. It is this 
which shall lift you up high above the earth, and assimilate 
you to that which is divine. Without it, you will but creep 
with dusty and drooping and wearied wing. Without it, think 
not to endure that cruel and crushing weight of doing and 
suffering which he must bear who faithfully and Avith heroism, 
at any time,ibut most of all in periods of great public convul- 
sion, would act the part of the patriot statesman." 

At Niagara Falls, as we have already intimated, Mr. Yal- 
landigham was daily overwhelmed with visitors from every 
State, and the throng was but little diminished at Windsor. 
Spies, too, beset him at every step, but to no purpose. The 
Administration seemed to be afraid of him. The United 
States gunboat 3Ilchigan, with loaded cannon and steam up, 
lay opposite his bedroom window for four weeks, while a 
score of detectives, provided with his photograph, kept watch 
in every public place. 



346 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAlji 

The political canvass being over, Mr. Vallandigham devoted 

mucli of his time to reading and study. In a letter to a friend, 

written in November, he thus describes his daily way of life : — 

" I am here as calm, as determined, as steadfast, and as hoj)e- 
ful as ever, and as busy too. I am reviewing history and 
political philosophy; dipping a little into the ancient classics 
again ; making notes and memoranda of the times ; writing 
letters ; and closely, day by day, watching the course of 
events at home and abroad; ready for any fortune, and I ho])c 
equal to it. I see many visitors also, and spend not an idle 
moment, for my recreations, riding, walking, fishing, hunting, 
&c., I do not count idleness." 

In a letter to his brother James, dated January 16th, 1864, 

he says : — 

" I thank you for the faith you express in my future. To 
the testimony of my own conscience and the judgment of other 
ages, and of the j^resent generation ' after some time be past,' 
I long since delivered myself; and I calmly dwell now in the 
present, awaiting the times which are to come. . . . ]\Icau- 
time, while in exile or at home, till the time for action shall 
come, I will with faith and patience devote myself to those 
studies and pursuits which shall fit me for whatever Providence 
may have yet designed for me. Here I accommodate myself 
to circumstances and make myself as comfortable as possible. 
I have some excellent friends here and in Detroit, and what 
time I am not occupied with them and in exercise, I devote to 
my books — some of the best of which I have had sent from 
my own library to me here. Indeed, scarce ever in my life 
have I had so fine a chance for study, and I am improving it 
to the utmost. I hear from home by letter every few days, 
and from all parts of the country by newspaper every day. . . . 
Money I have now all that I shall need for some time. So 
' the Lord's my shepherd : I do not want,' and literally he is 
' furnishing my table in the presence of my foes.' " 

In this spu'it, and engaged in these pursuits, Mr. Vallan- 
digham in exile passed the winter and spring of 1864, await- 
ing a favorable opportunity, Avhich he felt persuaded would 
come, to return to his beloved country and his cherished home. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

KETURN FROM BANISHMENT. 

On the morning of the 5th day of May, 1863, Mr. Val- 
landigham was violently torn from his home, and after an il- 
legal and unjust trial was sent into banishment : on the even- 
ing of the IStli day of June, 1864, he returned — of his own 
accord returned, and was once more sheltered beneath his own 
roof, in the bosom of his own family. 

The circumstances attending his return were highly inter- 
esting and exciting : before narrating them, however, we will 
give an account of an attempt he made to return some eight 
or nine months before ; and for this account vre are indebted 
to Dr. J. A. Walters, of Dayton. In a letter dated October 
7th, 1871, he says : — 

" Yours was duly received, in which you wish to know (in 
consequence of my long intimate and confidential relations 
witli the Hon. C. L. Vallandigham) if I have not some secret 
or private political history of him that would be of interest to 
the public, and that might now be properly made known; and 
if so, -whether I would not furnish it to you for publication. 
Mr. Vallandigham, as his most confidential friends all know, 
had xcry little private or secret history as regards himself. 
He always appeared to move from fixed principles, and these 
principles were the same in private as in public. However, 
in looking over my papers I find several things that may be 
of ])ublic interest known only to myself. Inclosed you will 
find some papers from him that vou arc at liberty to use. if 



348 LIFE OF CLEME^S'T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

you think them of sufficient public interest. But with a view 
to a proper understanding of the circumstances Mliich gave rise 
to these papers, it will be necessary for me to give a short ex- 
planation. 

"All history gives account of premonitions, unseen influ- 
ences which actuate men for good or for evil. The Bible 
speaks of guardian angels that watch over us, and of course 
impress us for our own good or for the good of others. 
Scarcely any of us but do acts for which we are unable at the 
time to give a reason, but which in due course of events is 
made to appear plain. This apparent digression will explain 
itself as we progress. 

" Mr. Yallandigham arrived in Windsor, Canada, opposite 
Detroit, about the 24th day of August, 1863, and took rooms 
at the Hirons House. In the fore-part of September following, 
I, in company with a friend, spent several days with him at 
his new quarters. In a few weeks after my return home, I 
began to feel an almost irresistible desire to visit him again ; 
yet I knew of no reason why I should. I had nothing new to 
communicate to him, neither could I conceive that he had any- 
thing of interest to communicate to me. I would reason myself 
into the belief that it was worse than folly for me to visit him 
under the circumstances, having been there only a few weeks 
before. I tried to banish the idea from my mind, but it would 
not down at my bidding ; and the promptings to go appeared 
to strengthen with my desire to get rid of them. Yielding to 
these strong and apparently irresistible influences', I again 
visited him on the 29th of September. I got there in the night, 
and found him in his room with a INIr. P. of Detroit, to whom 
he introduced me, and said, 'Mr. P., this is a confidential friend 
of mine, with him everything is safe ; we will communicate to 
him our entire business, and hear what he thinks of it/ He 
then stated that he had just completed an arrangement with 
jNIr. P. by which he would be in Toledo on the night of Octo- 
ber 1st ; that on that day he^ was going sixteen miles below 
Detroit, on the Detroit river,' Canada side; and that Mr. P. 
was to station horses for him every ten miles, on the opposite 
side of the river, to Toledo ; that he would cross the river in 
the night, and go through to Toledo in time for the train to 
Lima the same night. Said he, ' Y oorhees, Merrick, and others, 
speak in Toledo _on the evening of that day, and I intend to 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 349 

speak at that meeting with them, and from thence continue to 
stumj) the State until the election. I have/ continued he, 
*just as good a right to stump the State as Brough, and am de- 
termined to do it. Now/ said he, * we will hear what you have 
to say to this determined purpose of mine to vindicate, as I 
claim, a sacred and constitutional right which no citizen 
should ever yield but with his life.' I have no recollection 
of ever feeling in all my life such an irresistible determina- 
tion to prevent any act or occurrence as I did to prevent 
him from the execution of these plans, as I firmly believed 
their execution could result in nothing but disaster to himself, 
if not to the peace and quiet of the State. I replied immedi- 
ately, and with as much force as I could command, that so sure 
as he did cross into Ohio he was a dead man ; that the wild 
and almost demoniacal influence which always takes possession 
of a portion of the people in time of war had, by the action 
of the Administration press, been all turned against him; that 
under this influence I believed thousands stood ready to take 
his life, and would do it with a conscientious belief that they 
were doing God and their country service. Mr. P. left and we 
continued the subject until twelve o'clock that night, and more 
or less all the next day. I used every argument and resorted 
to every device that I thought would in any way bear upon 
the case, but all to no effect. The arrangements were, all 
made, and go he would, to vindicate a right which he claimed 
was nearer and dearer to him than life itself That evening I 
bade him good-bye, and went down to the river with a view of 
crossing for home, but did not feel satisfied ; and while wait- 
ing for the Canada train to come in, I resolved to return and 
spend another night with him, and see if I could not make 
some impression on him that might turn the scale in his attempt 
to cross. I did so, and argued the case all over again, but 
v;ith no better sj.iccess. The next morning when I toolc leave 
of him, I remarked with much feeling and great earnestness 
that I hoped to God a storm would come wj) that evening by 
which he would be prevented from crossing the river. He 
replied that he believed very much in special providences, and 
that if an occurrence of that kind should take place he scarcely 
knew wliat his action might be. This was the first evidence 
he exhibited that anything could swerve him from his purpose, 
and showed that while he was ajiparently unyielding to all 



350 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

human influences, he was ready to yiekl to what might be a 
providential manifestation. Before I left he handed me a 
written address to the people of Ohio (which you will find 
enclosed), and requested me so soon as I heard by telegraph or 
otherwise of his crossing into Ohio, to hand it to his nephew, 
James L. Robertson, and have him publish it in the Dayton 
Empire, and send copies to the leading papers throughout the 
State. 

"About ten o'clock that day it commenced storming and rain- 
ing, and continued throughout the entire day and into the night. 
He went down in the afternoon of that day through the storm 
to the intended place of crossing. The river at this point is 
about a mile and a quarter wide, and having no other way of 
crossing but a small skiff, with the waves running high, and in 
the night, the crossing would be' in the highest degree hazard- 
ous ; and no doubt it appeared to him in connexion with what 
I had said, a providential interposition to save his life for some 
future usefulness^ to. his country, and he did not make the 
attempt. 

." The next morning I received the following despatch from 
Mr. P. :— 

" 'Detroit, October 2, '63. 
'''Mr. J. a: Walters: 

" ' The cider can't be sent. 

P.' 

"The next day I received the following letter from Mr. 
Vallandigham : — 

" '(Private.) Windsor, Can., Oct. 2, '63. 

" ' J/y Dear Doctor : — . 

" ' The storm was a more successftil logician and counsellor 
than you ; so here I am awaiting results. But, mind now, I 
depend on you, and all of you, to make extra exertions to bring 
Dayton and Montgomery County up to the highest mark. I 
have written Pugh to be positively at D. on the 10th. Now, 
Doctor, go to work, and telegraph me good news on the 13th. 
"'Truly, C. L. Yall.'" 

Mr. Vallandigham was a firm believer in Providence, and 
judging from this providential hindrance that the time for him 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 351 

had not yet come, he resolved to patiently wait a little longer. 
Besides this, ho knew that his friends had determined to bring 
his case before the Supreme Court of the United States in the 
winter, and though he was not sanguine as to the result, he 
considered it his duty to do nothing further till that result 
should be known. He had confidence in the Court, but his 
case was of so extraordinary a character that he supposed it 
most probable that no provision for its legal redress had ever 
been made, the early framers of our Constitutions and laws not 
foreseeing or deeming it possible that such a wrong as that to 
Avhich he had been subjected would ever occur under our free 
institutions. He was right in his conjecture, for such substan- 
tially was the decision of the Court. 

He now determined himself to redress the wrong that had 
been inflicted upon him, to recover the liberties of which he 
had been dej)rived, the rights which had been illegally and 
violently taken from him, or perish in the attempt ; and only 
awaited a favorable time. That time at length came, and the 
stratagem to which he resorted to accomplish his perilous pur- 
pose we will now briefly detail. 

On the night of the 14th of June, 1864, he was in his room 
at the Hirons House. He was alone, and actively engaged in 
packing a satchel, as if in preparation for travel. His face was 
thoughtful, and the lines of resolution about his mouth seemed 
deepened. As he stood before the mirror a little later, gravely 
looking in as one in deep thought, he appeared of firmly knit 
_but not heavy figure, in fact with no superfluous flesh — his 
stature about five feet and ten inches, his complexion fresh and 
blooming, clear bright blue eyes, over-arched by not very heavy 
brows, a Roman nose, a rather closely trimmed dark beard, and 



352 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 

no moustache. A few moments after he stands before the same 
mirror, but there is a change. He is now a man of heavy, cor- 
pulent appearance; in height apparently under the medium 
standard; eye-brows heavy and dark, casting so deep a shadow 
upon the eyes gleaming out from beneath them as almost, it 
seemed to darken them. A thick moustache swept the upper 
lip, totally changing the expression of the mouth, and a long 
flowing beard fell in a huge mass upon his bosom, converting 
him, " like Esau of old, into a hairy man." A large pillow 
taken from the bed had given the " Falstaffian proportions " 
to ]SIr. Vallandigham's naturally lithe and graceful figure, and 
for the luxuriant beard, moustache, and darkened eye-brows, 
art had lent her aid. The pillow beneath the waist-coat, how- 
ever, was the wearer's own invention, and most efficient did it 
prove in rendering his incognito complete. And now a long 
folded leaf is turned, and the world at last Icnows the history 
of Mr. Vallandigham's disguise when ho made the fimous 
trip from Canada to Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio. 

Just as the train came in which connected with trains going 
southward on the American side of the Detroit river, the fat 
man emero-ed from the shadows in the rear of the lower part 
of the hotel, and through the back-yard reached the street, and 
soon joined the passengers crowding towards the boat which 
connected Her Majesty's dominions with the United States. 
Mr. Yallandigham comfortably esconced himself on the vessel. 
No one knew him ; and here it is proper to say that no one in 
Hamilton, Ohio, nor anywhere else in all the world, did know 
that he was to be in Hamilton upon the 15th day of June, 
1864. He had counselled with no one, and he had told no one 
of his intentions nor of his plans, and his arrival in that city 
was as unexpected to his friends as it was to his enemies. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 353 

Vriieii the American side was reached ho cahiily prepared 
to leave the boat, and with the rest of the passengers was pass- 
ing through the necessary formalities with the United States 
officers upon reaching the Shore, when one of the officers came 
U]) and said : " See here, old fellow, that won't do, you have got 
contraband there," as he punched him with his fingers in the 
rotund abdomen. Mr. Vallandigham was a man of nerve, but for 
a moment he was taken aback. Before he could rei)ly, the officer, 
for same reason convinced that he was wrong, said : " Pardon 
rue, I see I am mistaken; but I have to watch for tricks." 
Mr. Vallandigham simply bowed and passed on; the pillow had 
served well its purpose, it had answered an inquiry as if it had 
been flesh and blood. Into the streets of Detroit then he went, 
and he had not been there more than ten minutes before he was 
arrested for the violation of a petty municij)al regulation. The 
officer who arrested him said : " Come here to the light ; let 
me look at you." They both stood together under the gas- 
light, and both eyed each other sharply and intently ; at last 
the policeman said : " Well, you look like an honest man and 
a gentleman." With much earnestness and strong emphasis, 
looking his captor steadfastly in the eyes, Mr. Vallandigham 
replied : " Sir, 1 am an honest man and a gentleman." The 
policeman, after a moment's hesitation, said : " Then it's all 
right, you can go." With light heart, bidding a cheerful good 
night, Mr. Vallandigham wended his w^ay to the depot. 
Necessarily there he had to speak a few words. The first time 
he spoke he noticed a man turn quickly and look at him ; he 
returned the glance, saw it was a colored man, and then turned 
away. When he got upon the train the same man came up 
to him and whispered in his ear: " I know your voice, but you 
9n 



354 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

are safe from me." Many years before Mr. Yallandigham 
had performed a favor for this man, had done him a kindness 
which had never been forgotten; and so on that night, by the 
gratitude of an humble negro, the great leader of the Demo- 
cratic party was preserved from arrest. In a short time he 
"was snugly wraj)ped up in a berth of the sleeping-car, and 
swiftly flying through the darkness toward his beloved home 
in Dayton. But there he did not stop ; steadfast in his deter- 
mination to be present at the Convention, he stilled the yearn- 
ings of his heart, overcame the earnest desire to stop and see 
his loved ones at home, and did not leave the sleeping-car 
until on the morning of the 15th the city of Hamilton w^as 
reached. 

John A. McMahon, Esq., in a letter dated " Dayton, Oct. 6, 
1871," gives an account of his arrival and reception: — 

" Our district was met in convention at Hamilton to select 
a delegate to the Chicago Convention. Mr. Vallandigham 
desired to be nominated, as Ave thought, for the purpose of 
having an excuse to return. There was some vigorous opposi- 
tion to his selection as a delegate by a few of the more timidly 
inclined. While the INIontgomery County delegation were dis- 
cussing the matter in caucus, a messenger came in and handed 
me a note pretty much after this style : 

"' To J. A. McMalwn or William H. Gillespie:-^ 

" ' I am in town, and will speak at the Court House at 2. 
Get out handbills. 

"'C. L. Vallandigham.' 

" This ended all strife, producing wonderful commotion. 
For a few moments all were quiet, but after the news s^jrcad 
the wildest enthusiasm began to prevail. The handbills were 
struck, couriers went to the country in every direction, and by 
2 o'clock or a little later a large and uproarious, and I may say 
determined crowd, had assembled. JSIr. Vallandigham spoke 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 355 

with extraordinary vigor, and the people responded with sym- 
pathetic ardor. 

" After the meeting was over, the question M^as presented as 
to his journey home. Some friends had arranged for his con- 
veyance by carriage. But some of us insisted that his conduct 
should now be all open and above-board. He was in Ohio, 
and should take the train like any other citizen. This was his 
own preference. It was arranged that a friend should signal 
from below Hamilton if soldiers were on the train. The 
expectation was that a regiment would be sent by the officer in 
command at Cincinnati; but it did not come. Mr. Vallan- 
dighara and his friends took possession of one car, and came 
home in fine style and spirits. The news having sjDread, car- 
riages were at the depot to receive them, and they drove up 
Main street to his home. The throng that crowded First street 
from that time until a late hour in the night was immense. 

" The question was discussed at Dayton and Columbus as to 
the policy of an arrest, but the temper of the people was too 
dangerous to be trifled with. Wiser counsels prevailed. It is 
said — and I believe upon good authority — that when Mr. 
Lincoln was considering the question of his return, he asked 
an Ohio Senator what he thought of a re-seizure of Mr. Yal- 
landigham. The Senator asked Mr. Lincoln if he was ready 
to transfer the Army of Virginia to Ohio ; if not, the attempt 
had better not be made. 

" I am sure that an attempt to re-arrest Mr. V. would have 
led to general and violent resistance, the consequences of which 
the wisest could not now imagine. 

" No one, not a living soul that I have ever met, knew of 
Mr. y.'s contemplated return. He droi:)ped into Hamilton as 
from the skies." 

Another writer gives the following account :— 

"The Convention was organised at 1 o'clock, in the midst 
of great excitement. A rumor began to be whispered around 
that Vallandigham was on his way there, and would speak in 
the afternoon. This was thought by all to be a canard, and even 
the most credulous treated it as such ; still it excited the minds 
of the people, and they began to crowd around the court-room 
At half-past one a messenger brought a despatch saying that. 



356 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Vallandigham would be there soon. This was succeeded by a 
tumult of" wild excitement ; applause after applause rent the 
air, until the walls of the old court-house fairly trembled from 
reverberating back the sounds. Everything and everybody 
were on the qui vive. 

" The Chairman, after repeated calls at the top of his voice, 
finally succeeded in restoring partial order; when it was pro- 
posed that the rules governing the Convention be dispensed 
Avith, and the delegates elected by general acclamation. This 
seemed to be very gratifying to every one, as it hastened the ter- 
minus of the proceedings. Nominations were then made, and 
the Hon. C. L. Vallandigham, of Montgomery, and C. Hughes, 
of Butler, were elected delegates, and George W. Houk, of 
Dayton, and D. AY. Van Dyke, of Warren, alternates, with 
Judge Gilmore, of Preble, as the elector, to represent the Third 
Congressional District at Chicago. 

*' Before the business of the Convention was completed, 
however, the shout was raised that Val. was coming, and a 
rush Avas made to meet him. With great difficulty he made 
his way through the throng of people that gathered around 
him, sometimes borne upon their shoulders, then half walking, 
half carried until he reached the platform. The meeting of 
the Convention was then closed in the midst of excitement, 
and the distinguished ' exile ' conducted to a stand erected in 
the court-yard, where he delivered a short address to the 
immense crowd of people who by this time had gathered to 
hear and see him ; and being once more uj^on the soil of his 
native State — in liis own District, where for three successive 
terms he had been the choice of the jieople to represent them 
in the National Congress — INIr. Vallandigham said : — 

" Men of Ohio : — To-day I am again in your midst, and 
upon the soil of my native State. To-day I am once more 
within the District which for ten years extended to me the highest 
confidence, and three times honored me as its Representative 
in the Congress of the United States. I was accused of no 
crime against the Constitution or laws, and guilty of none; 
but whenever and wherever thus charged upon due process of 
law, I am now here ready to answer before any civil court of 
competent jurisdiction, to a jury of my countrymen, and in the 
meantime to give bail in any sum which any Judge or court, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 357 

State or Federal, may affix ; and you, the hundred and eighty- 
six thousand Democrats of Ohio, I offer as ray sureties, Never 
for one hour have I remained in exile because I recognised any 
obligation of obedience to the unconstitutional and arbitrary 
edict, neither did personal fear ever- restrain me. And to- 
day I return of my own act and pleasure, because it is my con- 
stitutional and legal right to return. Only by an exertion of 
arbitrary power, itself against the Constitution and law, and 
consummated by military force, I was abducted from my home 
and forced into banishment. The assertion or insinuation of 
the President that I was arrested ' because laboring with some 
effect to prevent the raising of troops and to encourage desertion 
from the army,' and was responsible for numerous acts of 
resistance to the draft and to the arrest of deserters, causing 
^assassination, maiming and murder;' or that at any time, in any 
way, I had disobeyed or failed to counsel obedience to the law- 
ful authority, or even to the semblance of law, is absolutely 
false. I appeal for the proof to every speech I ever made upon 
those questions, and to the Very record of the mock Military 
Commission by the trial and sentence of which I was outraged. 
jSTo ; the sole offence then laid to my charge was words of criti- 
cism of the public policy of the Administration, addressed to an 
open and public political meeting of my fellow-citizens of Ohio 
lawfully and peaceably assembled. And to-day my only 
' crime ' is, that in the way which they call treason, worship I the 
Constitution of my fathers. But for now more than one year 
no public man has been arrested, and no newspaper suppressed 
within the States adhering still to the Union, for expression 
of political opinion ; while hundreds, in public assembly and 
through the press, have with a license and violence in which I 
never indulged, criticised and condemned the acts and policies 
of the Administration, and denounced the Avar, maintaining 
even the j)ropriety and necessity of the recognition of Southern 
independence. Endorsed by nearly two hundred thousand 
freemen of the Democratic party of my native State at the late 
election, and still with the sympathy and support of millions 
more, I do not mean any longer to be the only man of that 
party who is to be the victim of arbitrary ^Jower. If Abraham 
Lincoln seeks my life, let him so declare ; but he sliall not 
again restrain me of my personal liberty, except upon ' due pro- 
cess of law.' The unconstitutional and monstrous 'Order 



O0<5 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Xo. 38/ under which alone I Avas arrested thirteen months ago, 
M-as defied and spit upon at your State Convention of 1863 
by the gallant gentleman who bore the standard as your candi- 
date for Lieutenant-Governor, and by every Democratic press 
and public speaker ever since. It is dead. From the first it 
was against the Constitution and laws, and without validity ; 
and all proceedings under it were and are utterly null and void 
and of no effect. The indignant voice of condemnation long 
since went forth from the vast majority of the people and press 
of America, and from all free countries in Europe, with entire 
unanimity. And more recently, too, the ' platform ' of an earn- 
est, numerous and most formidable convention of the sincere 
Republicans, and still further, the emphatic letter of acceptance 
by the candidate of that Convention, General JohnC. Fremont,' 
tb.e first candidate also of the Republican party for the Presi- 
dency eight years ago, upon the rallying cry of Free Speech 
and a Free Press, give renewed hope that at last the reign of 
arbitrary power is about to be brought to an end in the United 
States. It is neither just nor fit, therefore, that the wrongs in- 
flicted under ' Order Thirty-Eight,' and the after-edicts and acts 
of such power, should any longer be endured — certainly not 
by me alone. But every ordinary means of redress has first 
]3een exhausted ; yet either by the direct agency of the Admin- 
istration and its subordinates, or through its influence or intim- 
idation, or because of want of jurisdiction in the civil courts to 
meet a case which no American ever in former times conceived 
to be possible here, all have failed. Counsel applied in my 
behalf to an unjust judge for the writ o^ habeas corpus. It was 
denied ; and now the privilege of that WTit is suspended by Act 
of Congress and Executive order in every State* The Demo- 
cratic Convention of Ohio, one year ago, by a resolution for- 
mally presented through a committee of your best and ablest 
men, in person, at Washington, demanded of the President, 
in behalf of a very large minority of the people, a revoca- 
cation of the edict of banishment. Pretending that the public 
safety then required it, he refused, saying at the same time 
that ' it would afford him pleasure to comply as soon as he 
could by any means be made to believe that the public safety 
would not suffer by it.' One year has elaj^sed, yet this hollow 
pretence is still tacitly asserted ; and to-day I am here to prove 
it unfounded in fact. , .1 appealed to the Supreme Court of the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 359 

United States ; and because Congress had never conferred juris- 
diction in behalf of a citizen tried by a tribunal unknown for 
sucli purposes to the law, and expressly forbidden by the Con- 
stitution, it was powerless to redress the wrong. The time has 
therefore arrived when it becomes me, as a citizen of Ohio and 
of the United States, to demand, and by my own act to vindi- 
cate, the rights, liberties and privileges which I never forfeited, 
but of which for so many months I have been deprived. 
Wherefore, men of Ohio, I am again in your midst to-day. I 
owe duties to the State and am here to discharge them. I have 
rights as a citizen, and am hereto assert them : a wife and child 
and home, and would enjoy all the pleasures which are implied 
in these cherished words. But I am here for peace, not turbu- 
lence; for quiet, not convulsion; for order and law, not anarchy. 
Let no man of the Democratic party begin any act of violence 
or disorder ; but let none shrink from any responsibility, how- 
ever urgent, if forced upon him. Careful of the rights of others, 
let him see to it that he fully and fearlessly exact his own. 
Subject to rightful authority in all things, let him submit to 
excess or ursupation in nothing. Obedient to Constitution and 
law, let him demand and have the full measure of protection 
Avhich law and Constitution secure to him. 

" Men of Ohio : — You have already vindicated your right 
to hear : it is now my duty to assert my right to speak. Where- 
fore, as to the sole offence for which I was arrested, imprisoned 
and banished, free speech in criticism and condemnation of the 
Administration, an Administration fitly described in a recent 
public paper by one of its early supporters, ' marked at home 
by disregard of constitutional rights, by its violation of personal 
liberty and the liberty of the press, and, as its crowning shame, 
by its abandonment of the right of asylum, a right especially 
dear to all free nations abroad:' I repeat here to-day, and 
will again, and yet again, so long as I live, or the Constitution 
and our present form of Government shall survive, the 
words then spoken and the appeal at that time made, and now 
enforced by one year more of taxation and debt, and of blood 
and disaster, entreating the people to change the public servants 
and their policy, not by force, but peaceably, through the ballot. 
I now and here reiterate in their utmost* extent and with all 
their significancy, I repeat them, one and all, in no spirit of 
challenge or bravado, but as earnest, sober, solemn truth and 
warning to the people. 



360 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"Upon another subject allow rac iierc a word. 

"A powerful, widely spread and very dangerous secret^ 
oath-bound combination among the friends of the Administra- 
tion, known as the 'Loyal Union League/ exists in every State; 
yet the very men who control it charge persistently upon the 
members of the Democratic party that they have organised — 
especially in the Northwest — the ' Order of Knights of the 
Golden Circle/ or some other secret society, treasonable or 
' disloyal ' in its character, affiliated with the South, and for tlie 
pur^Dose of armed resistance to the authority of the Federal and 
State Governments. Whether any such ever existed I do not 
know 'y but the charge that organizations of that sort, or having 
any such purpose, do now exist among members of that party 
in Ohio or other non-slaveholding States, is totally and posi- 
tively false. That lawful political or party associations have 
been established, having as their object the organising and 
strengthening of the Democratic party, and its success in the 
coming Presidential election, and designed as a counter-move- 
ment to the so-called ' Union Leagues,' and therefore secret in • 
their proceedings, is very probable ; and however objectionable 
hitherto, and in ordinary times, I recognise to the fullest extent 
not the lawfulness only, but the propriety and necessity of such 
organizations; for 'when bad men combine, good men must 
associate.' But they are no conspiracy against the Government, 
and their members are not conspirators, but patriots — men not 
leagued together for the overthrow of the Constitution or the 
laws, and still less of liberty, but firmly united for the preser- 
vation and support of these great objects. There is indeed a 
'conspiracy' very powerful, very ancient, and I trust that 
before long I may add strongly consolidated also, upon sound 
principles and destined yet to be triumphant — a conspiracy 
kno^^n as the Democratic party, the present object of which is 
the overthrow of the Administration in November next, not by 
force, but through the ballot-box, and the election of a President 
who shall be true to his oath, to liberty, and the Constitution. 
This is the sole conspiracy of which I know anything ; and I 
am proud to be one of the conspirators. If any otlier exist, 
looking to unlawful armed resistance to the Federal or State 
authorities anywhere in the exercise of their legal and consti- 
tutional rights, I admonish all persons concerned that the act 
is treason and the penalty death. But I warn also the men in 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 361 

power that tliere is a vast multitude, a host whom they cannot 
number, bound together by the strongest and holiest ties, to 
defend by whatever means the exigencies of the times shall 
demand, their natural and constitutional rights as freemen, at 
all hazards and to the last extremity. 

" Three years have now passed, men of Ohio, and the great 
issue. Constitutional Liberty and Free Popular Government, is 
still before you. To you I again commit it, confident that in 
this the time of their greatest peril you will be found Avorthy 
of the ancestors who for so many ages in England and America, 
on the field, in prison and upon the scaiFold, defended them 
against tyrants and usurpers, whether in council or in arms.'' 

The welcome which Mr. Vallandigham received from the 
Democracy of the whole country was of the most cordial and 
enthusiastic kind. The following from the Philadelphia Age 
reflects the spirit of the Democratic press thi'oughout the 
Union : — 

" Mr. Vallandigham has returned from exile in Canada, to 
his home in Dayton, Ohio. He should be welcomed by every 
true friend of constitutional liberty. He has been a martyr 
for those great principles which underlie our republican form 
of government, and for his bold advocacy of them has been 
punished by a process unknown to the law. We are sure that 
every Democrat is glad that JNIr. Vallandigham has thus cut 
the Gordian knot and brought the Lincoln Administration 
squarely to the issue. We will now have the great question 
tried whether a military tool of a fimatical party has tlie right 
to seize a citizen and send him into exile. If Mr. Lincoln 
allows Mr. Vallandigham to remain in Ohio unmolested, he 
virtually acknowledges that the arrest and punishment by mil- 
itary commission was an outrage. If, on the contrary, Mr. 
Lincoln sends his minions to again arrest Mr. Vallandigham, 
he will provoke a new contest. The Democracy of Ohio and 
Illinois have pledged themselves to protect the exile against 
everything but judicial process, and no ruler with a Southern 
rebellion on his hands will dare to trifle with the feelings of 
the millions of the West. 



362 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"Already the fanatics are beginning to urge a second arrest 
of Mr. Yallandigham. Not satisfied with the blood already 
spilled, they wish to spread the desolation of war further. A 
free citizen is arrested for no crime, and after a mock trial by 
an illegal tribunal, is sent out of the country. He returns 
again ; finding that the Government will not repair the wrong 
done, he falls back upon his reserved rights, and does it him- 
self He returns to his country, and receives a welcome, spon- 
taneous and heartfelt, before which the tinsel and hollowness 
of his oppressor's reception in Pliiladclphia pales. He goes to 
his home, and his fellow-citizens resolve to stand by him. In 
Illinois they endorse the determination of their Ohio brethren ; 
and now, if another outrage is attempted, the people who for 
so long submitted to insult and oppression, will defend their 
rights and liberties with their own hands. We think Mr. 
Lincoln will quail before the firm front of the "West. Mr. Yal- 
landigham will be unmolested. The joker and his party Avill 
be too cowardly to try a new outrage. 

" Mr. Yallandigham goes to the Chicago Convention, to 
which he has been elected as delegate, with great eclat. To 
rej)resent a constituency who desire free speech, he braves all 
the bayonets and bastiles of the Abolition party. AVe kuov/ 
he will do his whole duty at the Convention, and that every 
delegate will extend a Avelcome to the man who has, perhaps, 
made more sacrifice for his principles than any other patriot in 
America. The great Democratic party must support him. He 
has done only what was right. He has committed no wrong, 
been guilty of no crime. He has acted only as a free citizen 
of a free country should do ; and if the Administration again 
attempt its injustice, it will find there are millions of men in 
the North as free, as bold, and as determined as Mr. Yallan- 
digham." 

The New York News thus notices his return : — 

" His presence before the Convention created general sur- 
prise and the most unbounded enthusiasm. Every link be- 
tween himself and his fellow-citizens seems to have been 
strengthened by exile. He spoke in the public square at Ham- 
ilton, in the same manly vein and in the same spirit of in- 
dependence and patriotism that were his characteristics before 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 363 

lie M'as kidnapped from his home by the military power. His 
martyrdom has not cooled the ardor of his patriotism nor en- 
feebled the vigor of his eloquence. Ho was banished for utter- 
ing truths that were unpalatable to the Administration, and he 
has marked the day of his return by repeating the offence 
against tyranny. We do not know what action th.o Adminis- 
tration jiropose to take in regard to his return, but we are con- 
vinced that popular opinion will protect him in the exercise of 
his rights as an American citizen." 

Mr. Vallandigham came home with the intention of stay- 
ing. Had any attempt been made to violently and illegally 
arrest him, he would have resisted. Witliin the Union and 
under the Stars and Stripes he would have fought for his con- 
stitutional rights, and a million of brave men would have 
flocked to his standard and gallantly sustained him. This the 
Administration knew, and wisely forbore to molest him. 

A few weelvs after his return, Mr. Vallandigham met with 
a sore domestic affliction in the death of his revered and be- 
loved mother. Hearing of her illness he was anxious to visit 
her, but though secure at home, surrounded and guarded by 
his friends, it was not yet considered safe for him to travel. 
Unable to see her, he wrote her the following letter : — 

'Dayton, Ohio, July 7th, 1864. 

" My dearest, dear Mother : — 

"That I cannot with safety start to see you in your 
present illness, is the sorest of afflictions. But Avhile I 
feel j^erfectly secure here, I think the Administration would 
ha but too glad to find me alone at a distance from home. 
This danger too will pass by before long, but at present it 
may be too imminent to risk; and I know, my dearest mother, 
terrible as the trial is to both, you would not want me sub- 
jected to imprisonment again. And besides, I cannot help 
hoping, and indeed believing, that you will yet be spared this 



364 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 

time, so that I can come and spend a liappy time with you yet 
in the dear old home. But give yourself no u^ieasiness in any 
event about me. 'The Lord is my shepherd.' ISTeither fear 
for E. nor R. I will do all for them in my power, 
and they will remain at the old homestead. Oh how great 
is the denial which keeps me away from you ! But L. 
and C. go, and she will tell you all and do all for you that 
I could. So good-bye, dearest, dear mother. Still hoping 
and expecting to see you this summer on earth, 

" I am yet, as all my life, your devoted and affectionate son^ 

" Clement. 
" Mrs. E. Vallandigham, New Lisbon, Ohio." 

The day after he wrote this letter, and before it reached her, 
she departed this life, and hearing of her death he Avrotc the 
following letter to his brother James : — 

"Dayton, Ohio, July 10th, 18G4. 

"J/// Dear Brother: — Yours of the 8th I received yester- 
day. On the day previous I received also the despatch to the 
Empire announcing the death of our dear blessed mother. 
Words cannot express the feelings of my heart at the thought 
that I have not been in a position to enable me to be with her 
and with you all. But it is a part of the evil times upon 
vrliich wc have fallen. Her death was somewhat unexpected, 
for until JNlr. Robertson's letter of the 4th inst. I did not feel 
that there was any danger, and even then I hoped that she 
might become better for a little while longer, so that I might 
see her yet again. But Providence ordered it otherwise. She 
was indeed a noble mother, and I reckon it among the chief 
of my blessings that I was the son of such a mother. She 
was too a truly pious tcoman, and no purer spirit ever entered 
upon the eternal rest of heaven. Though I could not see her 
before her death, I rejoice that she lived to see my return to 
my own country and home." 

It was Mr. Vallandigham's intention w4ien he returned to 
remain for some time quietly at home, and partake of that 
domestic enjoyment i:i his own family and beneath his o^vn 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 365 

roof of which for more than a year he had been deprived. But 
he was continually invited to attend and address political meet- 
ings, and some of these invitations he felt constrained to accept. 
On the 13tli of August a peace-meeting was held in Dayton, 
composed not only of Democrats but also of some Republicans 
who were beginning to grow weary of the war. Mr. Vallan- 
digham did not intend to be present, or at least to take any 
active part in the meeting. After its organization^ however, ho 
was waited upon by a committee appointed by the meeting, and 
at their urgent request addressed the assemblage. 

On the 18th a similar meeting was held in Syracuse, New 
York. Mr. Vallandigham had declined a written invitation, 
but a special messenger was sent for him and w^ould take no 
denial, and he accordingly went. It was an immense meeting, 
the number in attendance estimated at seventy-five thousand 
and the greatest enthusiasm j)revailed. He addressed the vast 
multitude in an earnest speech, advocating peace, urging the 
calling of a Convention of all the States to agree upon terms 
of settlement between the contending parties and the restoration 
of the old Union — the glorious Union established by the 
fathers. 

On the 29th of August the Democratic Convention to nomi- 
nate candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the 
United States, met in Chicago. Mr. Vallandigham attended 
as a delegate from the Third Congressional District of Ohio. 
His reception was of the most flattering character ; all seemed 
eager to do honor to the man who had suffered so much in 
defence of Democratic principles and the rights and liberties 
of the people. He was frequently called out to address vast 
assemblages collected in the streets, and he also took an active 



366 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

part in tlie deliberations of the Convention ; and when General 
McClellan was nominated, he moved that the nomination be 
made unanimous. General McClellan Avas not his first choice, 
but finding that he was more acceptable to the Convention than 
any other candidate, and having confidence in his al)ility and 
integrity, he voted fi^r him, and in the canvass gave him an 
earnest and cordial support. 

Although by a combination he was defeated for Chairman 
of the Committee on Resolutions, yet Mr. Vallandigham 
secured practically a triumph in the Committee on the report 
which they made to the Convention. He did not, as we have 
said before, regard favorably the nomination of General 
McClellan, and many of his best friends of the radical Dem- 
ocrats were surprised and some of them angered by his motion 
to make the nomination unanimous. In doing so, JNIr. Val- 
landigham was governed by these motives : he had long been 
looked upon as an extreme man in his views ; he had been held 
responsible for Democratic defeats, on account of his alleged 
rashness and violence; there was that feeling in the Conven- 
tion, that if he had said the word it would have been broken 
up; he felt that he would do wrong to himself and to his 
country to assume the responsibility of such a movement ; and 
as the nomination had been made, the j^latform being acceptable 
to him, it was better to make the best of the situation. So 
through his eiforts the nomination was made unanimous. For 
this, and on account of failure to secure a more distinct recog- 
nition of the principle of State rights in the platform, he was 
accused of weakness by some few of the extreme State rights 
men. But fortunately for him, most of the men who made 
this accusation of want of firmness were individuals who had 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 367 

ciiiailed before the storm, or had been entirely unheard of at 
the time when he, in 1861, almost single-handed and alone, 
with unflinching courage and undeviating firmness, had faced 
the full fury of its blast. 

There is a class of men who flatter themselves that they 
know exactly what should have been done, and what they 
would have done if they had been placed in the position of 
men of j)ower and influence, but it is a singular fact that these 
wise critics never attain the position nor acquire the power 
amongst men to put their wisdom, their courage, and their 
firmness into practical exercise. When McClellan's letter of ac- 
ceptance came out, which apparently repudiated a portion of 
the platform, Mr. V. was highly indignant, at first refused to 
give the General any further support, and expressed in the 
\aoience of his anger his regrets that he had ever lent any 
countenance to his nomination ; but upon calm reflection and 
counsel with wise and influential Democrats, being convinced 
that lie would have considerable influence in shaping tlie policy 
of tlie Democratic candidate if he was elected, he concluded, 
as between JNIr, Lincoln and General McClellan, the latter was 
greatly preferable. 

In the campaign that followed Mr. Vallandigham took an 
active part, addressing meetings in New York, New Jersey, 
and Pennsylvania, and many in his own State. And at these 
meetings he spoke with the same freedom and boldness and 
earnestness that he had been accustomed to use before his ban- 
ishment — denouncing the abuses of the Administration and 
their encroachments on the rights of the people, and lu-ging 
the adoption of those measures that would result in an imme- 
diate close of the war and the speedy restoration of the 
Union. 



368 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

The campaign closed with the election in November, and 
Mr. Vallandigham gladly retired to his home, where in atten- 
tion to his private affairs, which had for a long time been much 
neglected, in reading and study, and in the society of his 
family and friendS; he pleasantly spent the winter. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PARTISAN PROSCRIPTION AND THE SONS OF 
LIBERTY. 

One of the saddest parts of the task of giving the story of 
Mr. Yallandigham's life during the war, is the necessity of 
reviving the memories of the outrages committed by the dom- 
inant party during that melancholy period of our history. 
Thousands upon thousands of men, noble, kind, and generous 
in their impulses naturally, were so carried away by the mad- 
ness which ruled the hour, that it was utterly impossible for 
them to do justice to the motives and feelings of their Demo- 
cratic neighbors, and in some instances they were guilty of acts 
which will prey upon their minds as long as they live. The 
very demon of hate took possession of the souls of many who 
had never been suspected before of possessing any other than 
the most kind and amiable feelings. The writer has heard 
numbers of Republicans, in late years, since the excitement is 
over, and opportunity been furnished calmly and dispassion- 
ately to review the past, express profound and no doubt sin- 
cere regret for their violence, micharitableness and bitterness in 
ttiose sad days. It is because so many men now living feel 
t]i's way that it is unpleasant to recall the declarations, acts, 
cruelties, and persecutions of the Republican party at that 
period against their Democratic fellow-citizens. Yet it would 
24 



370 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

be utterly impossible to give a correct idea of Mr. Vallandig- 
liam and his political career without adverting to these things. 
When the war commenced, a reign of terror was inaugur- 
ated all over the land. Freedom of speech and of the press 
was for a while entirely suppressed. Very early was Mr. Val- 
landigham a special object of attack : it was attempted to pro- 
scribe him politically, to cast him outside of the pale of the 
church, and to ostracise him socially, and for a time it required 
considerable moral courage to induce a man openly and pub- 
licly to avow friendship for him. During a part of 1862 this 
feeling for a short time moderated, but in 1863 it broke out 
again with tenfold fury, and was maintained until after the close 
of the war. Arbitrary arrests took place all over the country. 
Democratic, speakers were mobbed. Democratic meetings were 
suppressed, and hundreds of Democrats all over the country 
were imprisoned, and some murdered in cold blood, for no other 
reason than because they were Democrats, and refused to as- 
sent to the policy of the then existing Administration. It was 
in consequence of this condition of affairs, and the existence 
of secret societies armed and organised in support of the 
Republican party, that the organization known as the Sons of 
Liberty wfvs formed. It was organised as an offset to the 
Loyal Leagues and other secret societies of the dominant party, 
for the purpose of defending Democratic presses, meetings, and 
speakers, for the mutual protection of its members, and for the 
protection of the ballot-box. The organization proper had no 
affiliation and no purpose to affiliate with the men in the South 
who were fighting for separation. There were men, however, 
who were in favor of disunion that joined it, and in some 
places endeavored to use it to further the cause of Southern 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 371 

independence; but this was not. warranted by the constitiition 
3r ritual of the order, and wholly unauthorised by its chief 
officers. Mr. Vallandigham and many wise, reflecting men 
regarded the liberties of the country in danger; they were 
ivilling to submit to any amount of personal abuse and ob- 
loquy while the ballot remained free, but should it be assailed 
md its freedom destroyed, they had determined to fight, and 
therefore they resolved to organise. 

Many years before the war, a secret society having for its 
nain objects the acquisition of Mexico and Cuba, was organised. 
[t was commenced in the South, but extended northward as 
time advanced. From the objects of the organization it can be 
f^ell understood that a majority of its members were Southern 
nen, and in the North were Democrats. It was called the 
Knights of the Golden Circle, K. G. C. After the war com- 
nenced the Northern members of this society made several 
nodifications in its constitution and ritual, and it was rechris- 
:ened and became the Order of American Knights, O. A. K. 
[n 1863, for the reasons already mentioned, the necessity of 
}ome kind of organization for mutual protection among Demo- 
crats was seriously felt, and during the latter part of that year 
I movement commenced to change the organization of the 
3. A. K.'s and make it a great political society, and to extend 
ts power and usefulness throughout the United States. As 
3arly as the year 1862, Mr. Vallandigham had been applied to 
3y members of the Order of American Knights to join that 
organization, but had refused because he apprehended that it 
Tiiirht have some connection with the Southern Government, 
)r place the members of it under some sort of obligation that 
was inconsistent with the oath of allegiance of a citizen of the 



372 LIFE OF CLEMENT -L. VALLANDIQHAM. 

United States^ He was again spoken to on the subject in the 
first part of 1863, but again refused for the same reasons and 
because of his opposition to secret political societies generally, 
and for the additional reason that the fall elections in 1862 
were so favorable to the Democracy that it appeared improbable 
that the Administration would dare to continue much longer its 
persecutions of Democrats and illegal arrests. But his own 
arrest soon after, and the conduct of the Administration and 
the Republican party during the year following that event, con- 
vinced him of the absolute necessity of organising for the pro- 
tection of life, liberty and property, and to guard against any 
attack upon the ballot-box. He was not long in making known 
to parties interested his views upon the subject ; and in conver- 
sation with members of the Order of American Knights in the 
early part of 1864, he communicated to them the information 
that if he was allowed the privilege of modifying any objec- 
tionable features in its constitution, and if the whole thing was 
remodelled, he would be willing to join it. 

About the middle of February 1864, Mr. Green and Dr. 
James A. Barrett visited him in regard to this matter, at 
Windsor, Canada West. Of this interview, in his testimony 
before the Military Commission which tried L. P. Milligan, 
Esq., he gave the following account : — 

"After discussing some political questions, they detailed 
their business, saying that they were on their way to New York 
to attend the meeting of the Supreme Council of what was, as 
I understood, the Order of American Knights; that some 
material changes were to be made in it, or something to be 
done in connection with it. They said that it numbered many 
thousands, and they desired that I would become the chief officer 
of it. My answer was, that I had understood there was some 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM 373 

such organization perhaps known by that name, in existence a 
year or more ; that I never heard of it previous to the fall 
of 1862; that I had always declined having any connection 
with it because I apprehended that it might have some connec- 
tion with the Southern Government, or place members of it 
under some sort of obligation with reference to that Government 
that M^as inconsistent with the oath of allegiance of a citizen of 
the United States ; and that I would belong to none, directly or 
indirectly, looking to any sort of connection with those who 
were in arms against the Federal authorities. I went on then 
to express my convictions as to secret political organizations ; 
that circumstances altered cases, and whereas I had always 
liitherto opposed them as a member of the Democratic party, 
now I believed the time had come when they were useful 
and necessary, provided they were kept legitimate and lawful, 
riie assurance was given by these gentlemen that there was noth- 
ing of the kind I had apprehended ; at all events there was to 
be a change made, or a new arrangement in the organization, and 
that all objections of that kind, if any existed, would be obvi- 
ited. And further, that all they proposed was a simple and 
informal communication of the ritual, principles and obliga- 
tions. With reference to the purposes of which I have spoken, 
:hey assured me that it was only a political organization, 
[laving reference to affairs in the States that had adhered to the 
Union and recognised the Federal Government and its authori- 
ties. I accordingly consented, and informally, by reading in 
part and showing in part, without any attempt at ceremony, 
the ritual, principles and obligations were made known to me. 
No part of any of them was read in full to me, but the books 
md pamphlets were left with me for examination. The prin- 
cipal objects with reference to which I made inquiry, as stated 
there, were declared to be of a ^Jolitical character, and for the 
iefence of members of the Democratic party." 

Messrs. Barrett and Green, after their interview with him, 
then proceeded to Kew York to attend the Supreme Council 
3f their Order. At this Council the organization known as 
'The Sons of Liberty" was formed; the ritual with some mo- 
iification of the O. A. K.'s was adopted, but in a good many 



374 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

respects changes were made with what had been the constitu- 
tion of the latter association. About the 1st of M^trch, 1864, 
H. H. Dodd and Dr. Massey, who had been present at the 
meeting in New York, came to Windsor to see Mr. Vallandig- 
ham and inform him of what had been done. They brought 
him word tlmt he had been chosen chief officer of the new organi- 
zation. They informed him also of the details of the ritual 
and the new constitution which had been adopted, but brought 
no copy of it with them ; and Mr. V. never saw a printed copy of 
it until the 28th of March, 1865, when to all practical purposes 
the society had been disbanded. After hearing the explana- 
tions of these gentlemen of the objects in view, becoming satis- 
fied that nothing beyond the protection of Democrats and 
rightful resistance to any attempts to interfere with freedom of 
elections was contemplated, he agreed to be sworn in as Grand 
Commander of the Sons of Liberty. The oath of office was 
administered by Dr. Massey, and it was simply " to support 
the Constitution of the United States, and faithfully to dis- 
charge the duties of chief officer of the organization." 

Scarcely three weeks had elapsed after the inauguration of 
Mr. Vallandigham as the Grand Commander of the Sons of 
Liberty, before the mighty impulse of his strong will and 
determined energy was felt all over the great States of the North- 
west. Lodges were organised in almost every county in the 
States of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, by the time the frosty 
empire of winter had given Avay to the gentle but potent in- 
fluences of Spring ; and in other States the organization rapidly 
increased in numbers, so that in the month of June over two 
hundred thousand men had been initiated. The secret agents 
were everywhere at work ; and in every little village and ham- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 375 

let in the States we have mentioned, during the spring of 
1864, the mysterious gatherings assembled in strange and out- 
of-the-way places, and were instructed in the doctrine and the 
ritual of the order. But an organization so novel and so wide- 
spread could not long escape the attention of the members of 
the Rejjublican party or elude the vigilance of the Adminis- 
tration, and there was scarcely a city of any size where the 
Sons of Liberty had any strength that had not amongst the 
members of the association some spy or detective. Mr. Val- 
landigham quickly discovered that there was scarcely anything of 
general importance made known to the members of the organ- 
ization that was not immediately communicated to the Adminis- 
tration, and he soon became wearied of a system which had in it the 
element of secrecy which provokes obloquy without any of the 
advantages which flow from concealment and reticence in polit- 
ical affairs. In fact, his temper of mind was such that con- 
cealment or duplicity of any kind was hateful to him. He 
was disgusted, too, by the absurd ritual and the ridiculous 
ceremonies of initiation, and continually angered by the im- 
prudence of members of the order. He was so thoroughly 
convinced of the failure of the organization as a secret society 
that he did not communicate to any one of its members his 
contemplated return on the 15th of June, and his arrival in 
Hamilton was as complete a surprise to the Sons of Liberty as 
to the Loyal Leagues of Ohio. 

In the latter part of May he became suspicious that an effort 
was being made to use the Sons of Liberty for tlie furtherance 
of the cause of disunion, to make it an offensive instead of a 
defensive organization. In an interview with a Confederate 
agent he satisfied himself that the Confederate Administration 



376 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 

would not make any alliance with the Democrats of the North- 
west except upon the terms of absolute separation forever 
Immediately after this he had a meeting with one of his 
Western coadjutors, who was actually in favor of assisting the 
South without any promise or guarantee from their so-called 
o-overnment of a restoration of the Union, or even the admis- 
sion of the Western States to a new Union. Upon learning 
the views of this gentleman, Mr. Vallandigham became 
violently excited. With flashing eye and clenched fist he de- 
nounced the stupidity of the men who were willing to precip- 
itate a revolution and fight for a government which, if suc- 
cessful in accomplishing its independence, would consider them 
aliens and outcasts. " I will fight for no cause," he exclaimed, 
"wherein victory itsel-f is dishonor; I will fight for no gov- 
ernment by which my State is to be regarded as a foreign land 
forever. I do not believe the present Administration of the 
Confederate States represents the views of the people of the 
South. They are too generous and too brave to expect men 
Avhom they intend to regard forever as aliens, to fight their 
battles for them. They are opposed to the Union simply as 
symbolised by Lincoln and Company, but they cannot oppose 
a Union where their enemies, as well as ours, shall be politi- 
cally buried. But if the madness of the Southern leaders re- 
fusino- a re-union upon most favorable terms shall result in the 
destruction and subjugation of the Southern people, I am de- 
termined to see to it that my friends, the noble, gallant 
thousands who stood by me, and who now stand by me, an 
exile and an outcast, shall not suffer in the same way and 
become involved in the same wreck. Not a hand shall be 
offered to assist the Southern people nor a shot fired in their 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 377 

favor if I can control the Sons of Liberty, until it is distinctly 
understood that the idea of permanent disunion is entirely 
given up and completely abandoned. If I hear of any further 
developments, under existing circumstances, of attempts of 
members of our order to assist the Southern Government, I 
will myself inform the Lincoln Administration, and see that 
the authors of a worse than abortive revolution are promptly 
punished." 

This was substantially his language, but any one unac- 
quainted with him can form but a faint idea of the force and 
earnestness with which it was uttered. He sent orders to all 
his subordinate commanders to beware of any coalition with 
Southern agents, or any movement calculated to change the 
order from being a society for defence merely and mutual pro- 
tection, to an offensive and revolutionary organization. Not- 
withstanding all his efforts and watchfulness, however, some of 
the order were induced to join in plans of action which rendered 
them liable to the charge of treason. These plans were indus- 
triously encouraged by detectives employed by the Federal 
Government, and upon the 16th of August it was understood 
in several lodges of the order that an uprising against the 
Federal Government should take place. Knowing well Mr. V.'s 
views upon the subject, he was not informed of it, and therefore 
upon that very day started east to speak in New York. This 
uprising would have probably occurred had not three things 
conspired to prevent. First, there was no competent head 
directing the movement; second, it was discovered in time 
that the movement was not only not known by the Grand Com- 
mander, but was against his most positive injunctions ; third, 
in places where men were rash enough to disregard the reasons 



378 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

above mentioned, the Administration being perfectly well aware 
of all the details of the movement, prevented its development 
by the proper military and police disposition. 

Some time after this Mr. V. was informed of it, and his 
indignation knew no bounds. " What do these men mean," 
he cried, " by acting against my express orders ? Do they think 
I will submit to such dangerous insubordination, which endan- 
gers not only the success of the Democracy as a party, but puts 
our wives and children in jeopardy ? " He was told that it was 
expected that a revolution once being started, he would be 
drasrored in, and it was desired that he should be the head of it. 
" I want to be the head of it then before it starts, if it has to be 
done ; and as for being dragged into anything, they little under- 
stand the character of the man they are dealing with if they 
imagine for one moment that I can be dragged into a movement 
which my j udgment does not approve of." The account of these 
interviews we receive from a man of strong secession or Southern 
feelings, who was very much disappointed at the position taken 
by Mr. Vallandigham. While it is probably nearly correct, it 
is very likely that, unconsciously to himself, it is somewhat 
colored by passing through the medium of his own feelings and 
prejudices. It is not to be expected in a work of this kind that 
any complete history of the doings of the Sons of Liberty can 
be given ; this much we give in order to vindicate Mr. Val- 
landigham from the false charges that were made against him in 
connection with this organization. Much of their proceedings 
in different parts of the country were never known to him ; but 
the organization had an important influence in preventing the 
general use of actual force in the elections of 1864. During 
the campaign of that year, the feverish excitement amongst the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 379 

people was such that but very little imprudence upon the part 
of the leaders of either of the great parties would have pre- 
cipitated the country into a civil war. 

From the time that Mr. Vallandigham came home — the 
15th of June, 1864 — until after the Presidential election, he 
was continually surrounded and followed by detectives. Yet, 
although constantly under their espionage, nothing was ever 
discovered, in language or conduct, which could possibly be 
construed as treasonable, or which rendered him justly liable to 
arrest by the United States authorities. The reason was that 
he had no hidden, treasonable views upon the subject of the 
war, as his enemies supposed. At last one of these detectives, 
who had heard repeatedly his private conversations and de- 
clarations, gave up his pursuit in disgust, and reported: 
" Vallandigham talks no more like a rebel in private, no, not 
as much as he does in his public sj)eeches." A great meeting 
of the order was held in Chicago at the same time that the 
Democratic Convention to nominate a candidate for President- 
met there. This meeting, which was expected to be of great 
importance, really amounted to very little. Mr.Vallandigham's 
course here provoked the animosity of many of the extreme 
men of the order, and by some of them he was unjustly ac- 
cused of using the order merely for his own personal protection, 
M'ithout having any ulterior object. On the other hand, Mr. 
Vallandigham believed that the course advocated by some of 
them was calculated to lead to a permanent division of the 
countiy, and to this he was utterly opposed. His views on 
this subject are clearly and ably set forth in his letter to the 
Young Men's Democratic Association of Lancaster, from which 
we make the following extract : — 



380 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"The fatal mistake of the South, her 'blunder/ 'which a 
false morality pronounces worse than a crime, was in ignoring 
ths great American idea of OxE Countey — not an impulse, 
not a theory, not a mere aspiration of national vanity, but a 
commandment written by the finger of God upon the rivers 
and the mountains and the whole tace of the land, and graven 
thence upon tlie hearts of the people. It was this, not anti- 
slavery, which held the border slave States in the Union, and 
stirred, for good or evil, the whole North and West to such 
exertions of military, naval and financial force as never before 
were put forth by any nation. And it was this grand and per- 
vading national sentiment, hedged by the sanction of destiny, 
which, according to the measure of my ability, I undertook to 
expound and justify in the House of Representatives in 1863, 
and by this line of argumentation to establish that the Union 
through peace was inevitable. Nothing but the violence of an 
intense counter-passion, and the terrible pressure of civil war, 
could have suppressed, even for a time, the power of this 
sentiment among the people of the South also. ^ Had their 
leaders forborne to demand separation and a distinct govern- 
ment, adhering to the old flag, and, within the Union under 
the Constitution, firmly but justly required new guarantees 
for old rights believed to be in peril, they might not indeed 
have had barren and deluding sympathy from subjects, and 
false hopes of assistance from kings and emperors in Europe 
eager for the decline and fall of the American Republic, but 
they would have been cheered by the cordial greetings and the 
active support of finally an overwhelming majority of the States 
and people of the West and North. But when they established 
a permanent distinct government, and took up arms for inde- 
pendence, they marked out between them and us a high wall 
and deep ditch which no man. North or West, could pass 
without the guilt and the penalties of treason. They went be- 
yond the teachings of their own greatest statesman of the past 
age, for Mr. Calhoun himself had declared, in 1831, that 'the 
abuse of power, on part of the agent (the Federal Government), 
to the injury of one or more of the members (the States), would 
not justify secession on their part: there would be neither the 
right nor the pretext to secede.' No matter who was respon- 
sible originally for that condition of things which led finally 
to war, nor what the motives and character of the war after its 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 381 

inception — and upon both these questions I entertain and 
have expressed opinions as fixed as the solid rock — so far as 
the South fought for a separate government she stood wholly 
without sympathy or support in the States which adhered to 
the Union. Whatever else may happen, her vision of inde- 
pendence has now melted into air. In the appeal to arms — 
maintained upon both sides for four years with a courage and 
endurance grandly heroic — she has failed; and though it had 
happened otherwise, still, in^ my deliberate conviction, her ex- 
periment of distinct government would have failed also. But 
the sole question really decided by the war, as by peace years 
before it had been settled, was that two several governments 
could not exist among the States of the American Union." 

After the Presidential election of 1864, the Sons of Liberty 
were disbanded, or at least as far as we can ascertain no further 
meetings of the order were ever held. 

We will close this chapter with an extract from a speech 
delivered by Mr. Vallandigham at Peoria^ Illinois, on the 24tli 
of October, 1864:— 

" And now, first, men of Illinois, a word as to secret socie- 
ties, of which so much recently has been said, and with which 
my name has been connected by telegraph and the Abolition 
press. Charges of dark conspiracy are daily heralded, and 
even Democratic newsj)apers are, under the present miserable 
arrangement, obliged to make public whatever of falsehood 
or forgery their political enemies, who control the ^ Associated 
Press,' may choose to transmit. Every conceivable organization 
within the Democratic party — your clubs, your reading-rooms, 
your associations, even your committees — have been denounced 
audaciously — yes, by men high in power — as treasonable combi- 
nations to overthrow the Government. Men of Illinois, I am 
here to speak plainly and boldly to-day, upon this as upon 
every other question. [Great ajjplause.] How dare the Judge 
Advocate-General, upon the eve of a Presidential election, lend 
himself to the office of insinuations or open charges of treason- 
able conspiracy against more than a million and a half of men 
who love the Union, revere the Constitution, adore the flag, 



382 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

and mean to defend their own j^ersonal liberty and the liberties 
of the country to tlie last extremity ? [Immense applause.] 
In ordinary peaceable times, when we had Constitution and 
law in the land as the sole rule of action for our public r«rvantg, 
and when arbitrary power was unknown in America, when 
peace and security spread their gentle pinions over every house- 
hold and there were none to make us afraid, I was hostile to 
every form of secret political society. Ten years ago I fought 
boldly against just such an organization called the 'Know 
Nothings,' made up of the very men who now libel us, but 
who then crept through alleys and round corners with dark 
lanterns in their hands, seeking their dusky haunts and dens 
under cover of the night, though the Constitution was then the 
supreme law of the land, and military arrests and military 
commissions were alike unknown, and trial under the common 
law and by jury Avas the acknowledged birth-right of every 
citizen. But times change ; and our rights and duties, subject 
always to the eternal and immutable laws of justice and right, 
change with them. The expediency, nay, the necessity of a 
secret organization, depends upon the exigencies of the times. 
When constitutions are defied and spit upon, and laws set at 
naught, and courts of justice supplanted by military commis- 
sions, and military arrests take the place of ' due process of 
law,' and free speech, a free press, free assemblages of the 
people, and above all, free elections, are subverted ; when the 
whole power and patronage of the Administration, the joint 
power of the purse and of the sword, are employed by the 
party in authority to perpetuate its domination ; and when other 
secret, oath-bound, armed and disciplined societies — armed 
secretly, but by men in authority, and at the public expense, 
and working in the interest of that party — exist and are fos- 
tered and encouraged everyAvhere, to overawe and intimidate, 
yes, even to assail and beat down the political opponents of the 
Administration, it is the right and the duty of the people to 
unite together for the protection of their interests, their rights, 
and their persons; for 'when bad men combine, good men,' 
said the great Edmund Burke, 'must associate.' [Loud 
applause.] And if they see fit to meet with doors locked, to 
require forms and ceremonies, to demand a lawful oath or obli- 
gation, and to enjoin secrecy, they have the right to do it. 
[Renewed applause.] They are not conspirators, but patriots. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 383 

The test of lawfulness or unlawfulness does not depend upon 
ritual, or obligation, or secrecy, but upon their purpose. If it 
be to overthrow the Government, State or Federal ; to resist 
judicial process ; to resist the laws of the land or the constituted 
authorities of the Government in the exercise of their lawflil 
powers and rights ; if it be to seize arsenals or other public 
property, to release rebel prisoners of war, or in any other m- ay 
to ' give aid and comfort ' to the enemies of a State or of the 
United States, within the constitutional meaning of that term, 
then it is an unlawful organization, a conspiracy, whether it be 
open or secret, and as I announced on the day of my return to 
my tome and native State in June last, at Hamilton, 'the 
offence is treason and the penalty death.' [Loud applause.] 
But we of the Democratic party have a right in times like 
these to unite in any sort of organization for the purpose of 
advancing the cause and interests of our party, of securing 
political power and office by peaceable means — through the 
ballot-box. [Applause.] More than that, Ave have the right, 
under the Constitution, and by law and by nature, to defend 
our liberties, to protect our persons, to vindicate our rights, and 
secure that which Constitution and laws give us, but which 
arbitrary power may without due process of law and by the 
strong hand attempt to take away. [Great ajDplause.] If not, 
then better surrender the form of government which our fathers 
made for us, and choose a king at once. 

"You hear much just now of a secret organization or order 
called the 'Sons of Liberty,' which is said to exist. Well, 
gentlemen, I have read carefully all that the spies, detectives, 
and informers of this Administration have revealed, and all 
that Sanderson, Carrington, Holt, and Mary Ann Pitman have 
made public ; and am here to-day to say that neither in the 
ritual, nor the obligation, nor the lessons or declaration of 
principles, is there one word ' treasonable ' in its character or 
inconsistent with the highest and most delicate allegiance which 
an American citizen owes to his country and to its government, 
or the duty which an American freeman owes to himself. 
[Loud cheers.] The ritual, in itself, is nothing, and the obli- 
gation nothing ; and as to the principles announced, they are 
precisely those to which every American, of every party, here- 
tofore has subscribed. They are the doctrines of every Demo- 
cratic presidential convention for the last thirty yeai's. Nay, 



384 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

part of them are, word for word, the Virginia and Kentucky 
resolutions of 1798, penned by Madison and Jefferson. [Loud 
applause.] And yet sixty years later, the doctrines of the 
fathers of the Republic, and founders of that great Democratic 
party which made the country glorious and great, are de- 
nounced as ^ treason ; ' and they who dare hold them still, as 
enemies to their country and conspirators against its govern- 
ment ! 

" But, gentlemen, how comes it that in all these startling 
revelations, these conspiracies and plots, these secret societies, 
this clamor about oaths and obligations and rituals, we hear 
nothing of the 'Loyal Union League' and the 'Strong Band,' 
and other powerful and dangerous secret oath-bound societies, 
friendly to the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, hnt hostile to 
the peace and good order of every community? Why is Rose- 
crans silent? Why Carrington dumb? Why has Mary Ann 
Pitman no revelation to disclose ; and why even does Judge 
Advocate Holt's flatulent eloquence fail to give forth a solitary 
rumble? And yet such organizations exist everywhere, mili- 
tary in their character, and drilled, disciplined, and armed — 
yes, armed with muskets, the public property of the United 
States or of the State, and paid for out of taxes wrung from 
your hard earnings. Why, it was but a few weeks ago that 
the grand council of the Union League of the State of New 
York assembled at Syracuse, and sitting as an adjunct of the 
Republican State Convention, unanimously adopted this reso- 
lution : 

" 'jRcsocved, That we earnestly recommend and urge upon the 
subordinate councils to organise military companies within their 
several bodies, to arm and drill with the utmost diligence, and 
with great caution, that no unnecessary occasion of offence be 
given to our enemies/ 

"What enemies? Rebels in arms ? Oh no! The Loyal 
League military will never march to the front to be near the 
flashing of the guns. Their enemies are their neighbors, the 
men and women of the Democratic party at home. To meet 
in secret, to require oaths and ceremonies, the l)urning of frank- 
incense, of ' gum, thus and myrrh,' to form military com- 
panies, to arm and drill in order to murder ' copperheads/ or 
control elections, is lawful, loyal, patriotic. But all or any 
part of this, to aid the principles of Democracy, to promote the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 385 

siiccoss of that par-y at the polls, to defend our constitutional, 
God-given rights as freemen, is disloyal, is treasonable, is a 
conspiracy to overthrow the Government, and to be put down 
by the strong arm of the military, — the conspirators not even 
being entitled to the privilege, in common with thieves and 
other felons, of a trial by jury, and in the judicial courts, and 
by the fixed criminal laws of the land. I tell them that we, 
the men of the Democratic party, have precisely the same 
rights, in this and in all other things, as they have, and ' by 
the Eternal ' we mean to exercise them. [Immense applause, 
and cries of ' Good,' ' We will,' <fec.] 

"And now as to the real purposes of the so-called 'Sons of 
Liberty,' we have it as set forth officially in these words by 
Brigadier-General Henry B. Carrington, 'commanding the 
district of Indiana,' in a report from headquarters, to Governor 
Morton, dated June 28th, 1864 : 

" ' PURPOSES OF THE ORDER. 

" ' It seems tliat the main purpose is political power by Union 
iiith the tSouth, regardless of men or measures.' 

" That is, without reference to the question of slavery or 
slaveholders, just as the Union existed of old. And that, I 
believe, is precisely the great object of the whole Democratic 
party. So declares the platform of the late Chicago Conven- 
tion. So says General McClellan when ho announces in his 
letter of acceptance, that ' the sole condition of peace is the 
union of the States.' Thanks to General Carrington: stupidity 
secured an admission which a more intelligent dishonesty 
would have withheld. And yet, after all, if Abraham Lincoln 
will but return to Constitution and law as his sole standard 
of right and power, and again give us security from arl^itrary 
arrests and from military commissions for the mock trial of 
citizens; if ho will respect freedom of speech, and of the press, 
and of elections, as in the time of other Administrations; if his 
supporters will break up their Strong Bands and Union. 
Leagues, and leave us secure in our rights, our property, our 
persons from mob violence, then I will gladly say, away with 
all secret societies and orders and organizations; disband them, 
one and all, at once, and let us come back to the quiet and 
peace and openness and good order, and good feeling too, of 
other days. [Applause.] " 

25 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PATRIOTISM AND LOVE OF THE UNION. 

Me. Vallandigham was a true patriot. Intimately ac- 
quainted with him from childhood, we have never met with a 
man in whose bosom seemed to glow a more intense love of 
country. He loved the South, for it was the home of his an- 
cestors for more than one hundred and fifty years — their place 
of shelter from the storms of persecution in their native laud. 
He loved the West, for it was the place of his birth, where 
his infancy was cradled and his manhood matured — peopled 
too by a race whose energy and earnestness were so congenial 
with his own earnest and intense nature. He loved the North, 
for it was a part of liis country, that country of which he was 
proud, whose Constitution he revered, whose institutions he 
admired, and for whose peace and unity and prosperity he 
diligently labored. It was his desire to know no North, no 
South, no East, no West. He loved the whole country: he 
was, as he himself expresses it, a United States man. It was 
the day-dream of his youth, and even of his mature years, 
that he should live to see the centennial anniversary of the 
nation's birth, and that on that occasion he should be the 
orator, or one of the orators of the day to celebrate the glories 
of a free, united, and prosperous country. The charges, there- 
fore, so frequently made during the warthat he was disloyal, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 387 

that he was a disunionist, arc utterly false and unfounded. 
Some who made them were doubtless honest and sincere; others 
knew them to be untrue, and in giving them currency were 
actuated entirely by jjersonal or political malignity, or l)y a 
desire to subserve a jjartisan jxirpose. No man of sense and 
intelligence believes them now, and prominent Eepublicans in 
all parts of the countiy freely acknowledge not only his ability, 
honesty and integrity, but also his patriotism and love of the 
Union. 

Mr. McCullough, now of the Chicago Republican, who 
reported many of his speeches for the Cincinnati Commercial, 
and knew him well, makes the following observation in his 
j)a2)er : — 

" In the cheap and unreasoning clap-trap of the day, it is 
common to speak of Mr.Yallandigham as a ' rebel,' ' traitor,' 
or a 'secessionist.' Now, no man can attribute any one of 
these epithets to him without confessing himself a fool. Mr. '>^ 
Vallandigham was as sincerely desirous of the preservation of 
the Union as any other living man; but he had educated him- 
self into the belief, first, that coercion was unconstitutional, 
and secondly, that successful coercion was physically and mo- 
rally impossible. Hence he was for compromise, for concession, 
for arbitration, anything rather than war." 

The Rev. F. T. Brown, a college friend, and intimate with 
him in after-life, thus speaks of him in a letter to the St. Paul 
Press : — 

"Soon after, questions in politics came up on which we 
took opposite sides — slavery, the fugitive slave law. State 
rights, &c., and when we met again (as we did when he was a 
member of Congress and I lived in the district) we both felt 
that there Avas a veil between us, and that we could not be so 
free and friendly as we had been. But there Avas no rupture, 
and I for one never (even when he was outlawed, and Avhcn, 



388 LIFE OF CLEMEIfT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

with many, his name was the synonym of disloyalty, treason, 
and much else that was vile and dishonorable) doubted his 
honor, his honesty, or his scrupulous integrity, and I fully 
believe the truth of what he said a short time before his un- 
timely death, viz: ^I tell you, sir, earnestly and honestly, that 
I never was a disunionist — that I always did believe, and do 
now believe, that this Union will be perpetuated and extended 
till it embraces the continent.' He was a man of great abilities, 
of a noble independence of character, and of high moral worth ; 
and I can not doubt that had he lived, his name ere long would 
have been honored by tens of thousands who, but a few years 
since, had no words too bad to fling at the ' traitor Yallandig- 
liam.' But he is gone. Peace to his memory. And let an 
old Eepublican anti-slavery friend, who loved him. dro]3 a tear 
upon liis grave." 

What Mr. Vallandigham's views were on the abstract right 
of secession we are unable to say : he has never, as far as we 
know, left them on record. It is the opinion of many of his 
friends that he believed in the right, but so great was his love 
of the Union that he would make no avowal of that belief, 
no affirmation of that right, while the integrity of the Union 
was in danger. Many prominent Xorthern men believed in 
the right and openly avowed it, and expressed opinions Avhich 
evinced a low appreciation of the value of the Union, and 
o-reat indiiference as to the importance of earnest effort for its 
preservation. In a speech delivered in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, Jan. 12th, 1848, Abraham Lincoln uses the follow- 
ing language : — 

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the 
power, have the right to rise up and shake off' the existing 
Government, and form a new one that suits them better. This 
is a most valuable and a most sacred right — a right Avhicli we 
hope and believe is to liberate the world. Kor is this right 
confined to the cases in which the whole people of the existing 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 389 

Government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such 
people that can, may revolutionise and make their own out of 
so much of the territory as they inhabit. More than this. A 
majority of any portion of such people may revolutionise, 
putting down a minority, intermingled with or near about 
them, who may oppose their movements. Such minority was 
precisely the case of the Tories of our revolution." 

Benjamin F. Wade, in a speech in the Senate of the United 
States, February 23d, 1855, thus speaks: — 

" I said there Avere States in this Union whose highest 
tribunals had adjudged that bill to be unconstitutional, and 
that I was one of those who believed it unconstitutional ; that 
my State believed it unconstitutional ; and that under the old 
Resolutions of 1798 and 1799, a State must not only be the 
judge of that, but of the remedy in such a case." 

Horace Greeley, in November 1860, thus expresses his 
views : — 

" The telegraph informs us that most of the Cotton States 
are meditating a withdrawal from the Union because of Lincoln's 
election. Very well: they have a right to meditate, and 
meditation is a profitable employment of leisure. We have a 
chronic, invincible disbelief in disunion as a remedy for either 
Northern or Southern grievances; we can not j^erceive any 
necessary relation between the alleged disease and this ultra- 
heroic remedy ; still, we say, if anybody sees fit to meditate dis- 
union, let them do so unmolested. That was a base and hypo- 
critic row that the House once raised, at Southern dictation, 
about the ears of John Quincy Adams, because he presented a 
jictition for the dissolution of the Union. The petitioner had 
a right to make the request; it was the member's duty to pre- 
sent it. And now, if the Cotton States consider the value 
of the Union debateable, Ave maintain their perfect right to dis- 
cuss it. Nay, we hold with Jefferson to the inalienable right 
of communities to alter or abolish forms of government that 
have become oppressive or injurious; and if the Cotton States 
shall become satisfied that they can do better out of the Union 
than in it, Ave insist on letting them go in peace. The right to 



390 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

secede may be a revolutionary one, but it exists nevertheless ; 
and we do not see how one party can have a right to do what 
another party has a right to prevent. We must ever resist the 
asserted rio-ht of any State to remain in the Union and nullify 
or defy the laws thereof; to withdraw from the Union is quite 
another matter. And whenever a considerable section of our 
Union shall deliberately resolve to go out, we shall resist all 
coercive measures designed to keep it in. We hope never to 
live in a republic whereof one section is pinned to the residue 
by bayonets." 

Sentiments similar to these, expressed in terms much stronger 
and more offensive to lovers of the Union, were again and 
again advanced by leading Republicans. There were those 
among them who insisted that either slavery should be abolished 
or the Union should be dissolved. Their cry was " No union 
with slaveholders." 

With such sentiments Mr. Yallandigham had no sympathy; 
on the contrary, he sternly denounced them. Whatever may 
have been his opinion on the right of secession, he was always 
opposed to its exercise, and never for a moment contemplated 
a permanent division of the country. At one time he appre- 
hended a temporary dissolution of the Union, but he believed 
that it would be only temporary — that it would be restored, 
and he was even then meditating a plan for its speedy restora- 
tion. In not one of liis speeches in Congress or before the 
people can there be found a single sentence favoring secession, 
or expressing any sentiment inconsistent with the strongest 
attachment to the Union. The following quotations from cards 
which he published and from speeches which he delivered at 
different times during the war, exhibit his real sentiments :— 

" My object, the sole motive by which I have been guided 
from the beginning of tliis most fatal revolution — is to main- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 391 

TAIN THE Uxiox, and not to destroy it. When all possible 
hope is gone, and the Union irretrievably broken, then, but not 
till then, Iioillbejor a Western Confederacy" — Card to Cin- _ 
Ginnati Enquirer, February 14, 1861. 

"Devoted to the Union from the beginning, I will not 
desert it now, in this the hour of its sorest trial." — Speech of 
January 14, 1863. 

" Sir, I am against disunion. I find no more pleasure in a 
Southern disunionist than in a Northern or Western disunion- 
\s,ir— Speech Dec. 15, 1859. 

" Never with my consent shall peace be purchased at the 
price of Disunion." — Extract from Speech. 

" No order of banishment executed by superior force can 
release me from my rights as a citizen of Ohio and of the 

United States Every sentiment and expression of 

attachment to the Union and devotion to the Constitution — to 
my country — which I have ever cherished or uttered, shall 
abide unchanged and unretracted until my return." — Hk 
address before banishnent. 



But, say his enemies, he was opposed to the war. True ; 
but does opposition to a war in wliich a country may unhappily 
be engaged necessarily imply disloyalty to the Government? 
Tens of thousands of the men of New England were opposed 
to the war of 1812 — a war, too, with a powerful foreign foe: 
were they regarded as disloyal by the men who in 1861 
denounced Mr. Vallandigham ? or did the Government in 
1812 ever molest them or interfere with their perfect freedom 
in expressing their opinions? Thomas Corwin opposed the 
war with Mexico, and on the floor of the Senate denounced 
it in unmeasured terms : did the Republicans of 1861 regard 
him as a traitor? Lord Chatham opposed the war of Great 
Britain against her colonies in 1776, and in the House of Lords 
uttered these bold words : " If I were an American, as I am 
an Englishman, while a foreign troop remained in my country 



392 llFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

I would never lay clown my arms ; no, never, never, never ! " 
Was he an enemy to liis country, or disloyal to the Government? 
Mr. Yallandigham's opposition to the war then was not 
disloyal, was not treasonable. Was he in error in the course 
he pursued ; is it certain that he was in error ? What says 
General Durbin Ward ? 

"During the late national contest no man believed more 
emphatically that he was right than the speaker did ; no man 
was more ready than he to cast the die and to abide the result 
of the choice than I, and I have no disposition or desire to 
chango that opinion at this day; yet who of us can say in the 
coming centuries of time, when the events of the past few 
years are viewed in the light of history and aside from j^artisan 
influences, whether Clement L. Vallandigham was not only 
truly great, but also right ? Who Avill pretend to say what 
the verdict of history will be ? " 

The same suggestion is also made by a writer in the New 
York Herald, which we here give together with the comments 
thereon from another paper : — 

"■ '■ It is not for us to pass judgment on his political life. 
What is treason to-day may be patriotism to-morrow. But 
justice to the dead and to the living impels us to recognise the 
purity of the motives which prompted Mr. Vallandigham to 
sacrifice his political prospects during the war. He had fliults ; 
but who is there without them ? He may have erred during 
the rebellion ; but are we sure that he erred ? He never re- 
tracted one word that he uttered in that eventful period, nor 
expressed regret that he pursued the course he did. He died 
believing he was right, and his sincerity demands our respect, 
even as his abilities command our recognition and our admii*a- 
tion.' 

" '■ He may have erred during the rebellion,' but tlic in- 
quiry arises, 'Are we sure that he erred ?^ Who is to judge? 
Certainly not those who differed with Mr. A'^allandigliam, for 
they had an object in misrepresenting and maligning the 
motives that prompted him and governed his opinions upon all 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 393 

public questions. The most decided opponents of Mr. Yal- 
landigliani conceded to him not only ability, but integrity and 
sincerity in his political sentiments and ideas of public policy. 
As the Herald writer remarks, referring to his course durino- 
the rebellion, ' he never retracted one Avord that he had uttered 
in that eventful period, nor expressed regret that he pursued 
the course he did.' And the Herald adds, ' he died believino- 
he was right.' And now comes the inquiry, even with thosS 
Avho differed in toto from :Mr. Vallandigham, ' Are we sure 
that he erred ? ' This is a question that the actors or partici- 
pants, those who were contemporaneous with these fearful 
scenes, when might and prejudice and passion usurped the 
place of law and the individual rights that the Constitution 
was intended to and should protect, can not properly answer 
because the same considerations that influenced them then, con- 
trol them now in a greater or less degree. 

" And who that understood the character and appreciated 
the motives that prompted JMr. Yallandigham can doubt his 
love of country, and not only his earnest, but intense desire 
for its prosperity, progress and glory? And no one can read 
his speeches during the rebellion, no matter how intense and 
bitter may have been his denunciations of the Administration 
for its exercise of arbitrary power, without being convinced 
that he thought he was doing right, and that he was maintain- 
ing tlie principles that must underlie republican institutions, 
if free government is maintained and perpetuated. In a speech 
at Dayton, in 1862, he said: 

" ' I wa.s born a freeman. I shall die a freeman. It is ap- 
pointed to all men once to die, and death never comes too soon 
to one in the discharge of his duty. I have chosen my course, 
have pursued it, have adhered to i't to this hour, and will to the 
end, regardless of consequences. My opinions are immovable 
— fire cannot melt them out of me. I scorn the mob. I defy 
arbitrary power,' and as the Herald remarks, Mr. Vallandio-- 
ham * never retracted one word that he uttered in that eventful 
period, nor expressed a regret that he pursued the course he 
did.' And we repeat the inquiry, 'Are we sure he erred?' 
It is not for tliLs generation to say that he erred. ' What is 
treason to-day, may be patriotism to-morrow.' Mr. Yallandig- 
ham sacrificed much in his position. If he had taken an op- 
posite course, with his conceded abilities and marked qualities 



394 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to influence and intensify public sentiment and action, he might 
have reached the very top-round of the ladder of fame, and 
not only fame, but what those that differed with him regarded 
as the highest evidence of patriotism. But all these incentives 
to the gratification of ambition for place and power he subor- 
dinated to what he regarded to be the right. And J are we 
sure that he erred ? ' All the results of the terrible civil war 
liave not yet been developed, and future generations may look 
upon the contest and the actors in it from a different stand- 
point than the present. Mr. Yallandigham never uttered a 
sentiment that did not express the most intense devotion to the 
Union and the Constitution. And the best evidence of the 
purity of the motives that prompted him is found in the sacri- 
fice he made of his political prospects during the rebellion. 
The future historian, unbiased by the prejudices and passions 
and interests of those who were actors in the events of the past 
ten years, and who will know the fruits of the fearful civil 
war, can best determine who erred and who w^re in the right 
in that eventful period." 

But even suppose Mr. Yallandigham was in error: his 
motives were pure, and honest, and patriotic. It is not true, 
as has been sometimes charged, that his course in reference to 
the war was influenced by Southern sympathy. He no doubt 
had Southern sympathies : he was of Southern descent, he had 
lived in the South, and there were many things in Southern 
character that he admired ; but those sympathies had not the 
slightest influence in shaping his conduct. Nor was his course 
regarded by leading men of the South as favorable to their 
interests. They admired his courage, they felt grateful to him 
because he had always stood up in defence of their constitu- 
tional rights whenever and wherever assailed ; but during the 
war they regarded him as an enemy, and his course as inimical 
to the success of their cause. The proof of this is ample. The 
following is an extract from an article in the Chattanooga 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 395 

Behd, published at the time Mr. Vallandigham was banished 
to the Southern Confederacy : — 

" What shall ^ye do with him ? Send him back by all 
means. It is our duty to our own honor to do so. It is charity 
to him. And why so ? There are a hundred reasons. In the 
first place, Vallandigham is not our friend, nor an alien enemy 
of the North. He has never declared for us. On the contrary, 
he is one of the most dangerous of all the men of the North, 
for had his astute policy prevailed, we would to-day find our- 
selves in a more deplorable situation than it is possible to con- 
ceive. Vallandigham is a Unionist, an honest Unionist, an 
able Unionist ; he is a gentleman of breeding, and a man of 
heart. God knows we sympathise with him in his troubles. . . 
But in deciding upon his case in our own mind, we see simply 
the great champion of the Democracy of the Northwest, late 
member of the Congress of the United States, and at present 
candidate for Governor of Ohio." 

The next day, another writer in the same paper says : — 

" We regard Mr. Vallandigham as a faithful citizen of the 
United States. As an upright man he has spoken his senti- 
ments freely and frankly. They are very clear; and if founded 
upon an erroneous estimate of the feelings which inspire the 
heart of the South, they are frank and honest. We like them 
for these good and rare qualities. We like him for having 
uttered them. But still in a public and jJolitical point of view, 
he is our enemy, and as such we are bound to treat him." 

To the same effect is the following extract from the Mobile 
Register: — 

" There is only one party in the North who want this 
Union restored, but they have no more power — legislative, 
executive, or judicial — than the paper we write on. It is true 
they make a show of union and strength, but they have no 
voice of authority. We know that the Vallandigham school 
wants the Union restored, for he told us so when here in exile, 
partaking of such hospitality as we extended to a real enemy 



396 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to our struggle for separation, banished to our soil by another 
enemy who is j)ractically more our friend than he. And if 
Vallandigliam should, by accident or other cause, become 
Governor of Ohio, we hope Lincoln will keep his nerves to the 
proper tension, and not allow him to enter the confines of the 
State. His administration would do more to restore the 
old Union than any other power in Ohio could do, and there- 
fore we pray that he may be defeated. Should a strong Union 
party sprnig up in Ohio, the third State in the North in politi- 
tical importance, it might find a faint response in some South- 
ern States, and give us trouble. But as long as the Republi- 
cans hold power, they will think of conquest and dominion 
only; and we, on the other hand, will come up in solid column 
for freedom and independence, which we will be certain to 
achieve, with such assistance as we may iioio (after the refusal 
of the Washington Cabinet to confer) confidently expect, before 
the Democrats of the North get in power again, and come 
whispering in our ears, ' Union, reconstruction, constitution, 
concession, and guarantees.' Away with all such stuff! We 
want separation. Give us rather men like Thaddeus StevenS 
and Charles Sumner. They curse the old Union and desjijise it, 
and so do we. And we now promise these gentlemen that, as 
they hate the Union and the ' accursed constitution,' let them 
keep down Vallandigliam and his party in the North; then 
they shall never be troubled by us with such ichining about 
the Constitution and Union as they are sending up." 

That ]Mr. Vallandigham was honest and sincere in his 
course does not admit of a doubt: his speeches and letters 
show it. 

The following letter to his brother James exhibits not only 
his courage and fortitude, but also his honesty and sincerity. 
None but a man who sincerely believed he was right Avould be 
able to stand the fiery ordeal he here describes : — 

"Washington, D. C, February 24, 1862. 
"My Dear Brother : — Yours I received yesterday, and am 
much obliged to you for it. I am indeed ' fighting the beasts 
at Ephesus.' My courage never flinches, nor does my faith 



LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 397 

ever waver ; but it is a fearful odds to contend against. With 
but a little band to rally round me, without an organ through 
which to reach the public, Avith a hostile and mendacious or 
silenced press, with a. reporters' gallery full of the most malig- 
nant slanderers and . not a friend in it, Avith an embittered 
majority in the House, and tlie spectators' galleries full of con- 
tractors and other parasites of the Administration ; with nothing 
to hope for except in the future, every day becoming more and 
more distant, . . . the struggle to 'prop a falling State' is 
indeed enough to appal the stoutest. Faith in the right, in 
truth, in God, these alone sustain me. If I live through it, 
the present generation will do me justice. If I perish, but my 
name survive in the history of these times, other ages, and it 
may be other countries, will do it. My triumph over Hickman, 
infamous as his assault was, yet was so signal, carrying for the 
first time the House and the galleries, that I feel very greatly 
gratified. The debate, as it occurred and is in the Globe, speaks 
for itself. Nearly all the Democrats of the House called to 
see me that evening at my lodgings to congratulate me. 
But all my trials and persecutions are severe. Other men in 
politics have been as much abused, but they always had the 
support of a powerful party and press. But I Kxow that it 
will all come right by-and-bye." 

If Mr. Vallandigham had believed that the Union could 
be restored and maintained by Avar, and by that alone, he Avould 
haA'e sustained Avith all his might those Avho were waging it. 
This he asserts repeatedly in his speeches and in his letters. 
He aA^'ers it in the strongest terms in a letter to Josiah Perham, 
Esq., of Boston. Mr. Perham had written him a very kind 
letter, and Avith it had sent him a medal, Avhich he says " is the 
same as presented by me to the officers and soldiers of the 6tli 
Massachusetts Regiment ... on Boston Common, in front of 
the Mansion House, in Avhich John Hancock lived, August 2, 
1861, in the presence of thirty thousand people." Mr. Val- 
landigham thus replies to the letter: — 



398 LIFE OF CLEMEJTT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

"Daytox, Ohio, ^i«^ws« 29, 1861. 
"Josiah Perham, Esq., Boston, Mass. 

"3Iy dear Sir: — I accept the medal which you have kindly 
enclosed to me, and the more pleasurably because of the gen- 
erous sentiments of the letter along with which it is trans- 
mitted. You say — and you will pardon me for quoting it — 
that ' my views as frankly stated by me on the floor of the 
House, and before the people, do not agree with the united 
public sentiment of the North in relation to our glorious Union ; 
yet may you not hope that a cliange may take place in my 
views, and that before the meeting of Congress in December 
next, I will be found to have joined the great party Avhich ad- 
vocates '"Liberty and Union, now and forever!"' And you 
add that ' the frankness and distinguished ability with which 
I advocate the cause I favor, have given me a national reputa- 
tion which now becomes historic' 

" The compliment, my dear Sir, which you bestow upon 
me, is not so much in these last words, flattering as they arc, 
as in the wish you exjaress in the sentence before them ; and 
this just in proportion as honesty is a rarer and nobler heritage 
than genius or talent, however great. But I assure you that 
I do already belong, as I ever have belonged, to the party 
Avhich advocates Liberty and Union now and forever. Pardon 
me, therefore, if I suggest that had Massachusetts but followed 
always in the footsteps and re-echoed continually the voice of 
that great man, her Senator, who first uttered these words, dear 
still to every true American heart, both Liberty and Union 
might yet have been preserved. 

" You do not mistake me ; and as God is my judge, I aver 
it, that, if I were satisfied that through civil war alone this 
Union and our liberties could be secured, and that by civil war 
they could be restored and made sure, I would unite straight- 
way with that party which by the baj)tism of blood should seek 
to establish and to maintain them. But I have not so read 
histoiy, nor studied in the great book of human nature; and 
it is because of my deep conviction — a conviction deep as 
earth and as sincere as the blue sky above it — that this civil 
war must end and will end in the utter and final subversion 
of both, that I am constrained with great earnestness, but yet 
with becoming discretion, to labor for a speedy and honorable 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 399 

peace which shall leave to us the cheering hope, at least, of an 
ultimate and not distant restoration of the old Union of 
these States, and of * one flag, one country, one constitution, 
one destiny.' In this prayer I unite with you with a heart full 
of sorrow, but not yet altogether without hope. 

" Again I thank you ; and I accept your letter as a happy 
omen of the future. That in the midst of great public excite- 
ment, and when threats of imprisonment or assassination are 
every hour uttered against men who refuse to bow before the 
storm, there are those yet in the old Bay State wdio, true to 
her ancient great name and to the principles of her Revolu- 
tionary record, have the calmness to observe, the liberality to 
appreciate, and the courage to acknowledge public virtue in 
one whose opinions and course of conduct are so exactly the 
opposite of their own, gives me renewed confidence in the early 
restoration of peace, and with it I would fain hope, sooner or 
later, of that old Union which our fathers made in order to 
establish justice and to secure domestic tranquillity, the common 
defence, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty forever. 
" I am very respectfully, 

" Clement L. Yallandigham." 

Mr. Vallandigham opposed the war for various reasons. 
He believed the war to be unconstitutional. He believed it to 
be unnecessary ; he believed just as tens of thousands believe 
to this day, that by a judicious and conciliatory course on the 
part of Mr. Lincoln and his advisers, the war might be averted 
and the Union saved. He looked upon war as a terrible evil, 
and never to be entered upon till all other means of redressing 
grievances had failed. Especially did he look with horror on 
a civil war. And a war between the North and the South was 
to him peculiarly distressing, for his family were divided — 
many of those dear to him belonging to opposing armies. The 
sons of one brother followed the standard of General Lee in 
old Virginia ; the sons of another brother, and also the sons 
of a beloved sister, were in the Federal army. On the hills 



400 LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

around Vicksburg two of kindred blood offered up their lives 
beneath the folds of the Stars and Stripes, Avhile at Port Royal 
and at Cold Harbor blood as dear to him was poured out, and 
two gallant lives closed forever, fighting in behalf of the South 
and the jjrinciple of State rights. He realised strongly, he 
felt intensely, that it was indeed a terrible war. 

His principal objection to the Avar, however, was that by it 
the Union could never be restored — the haj^py, prosperous, 
glorious Union of the fathers. By concession, by compromise, 
he believed that the Union could be re-established, but never 
by war. AVhether he was correct in his views or not, time alone 
can determi ne. The indications at present — December, 1871 — 
afford painful ground to believe that his apprehensions as to 
the result were well founded. A Union " whereof one section 
is pinned to the residue by bayonets " — maintained by susi)en- 
sion of Habeas Corpus, and martial law — a Union in which 
the ignorant, vicious, and degraded govern, and the intelligent, 
virtuous, and refined are disfranchised and excluded from office — 
is not the Union established by the sages and patriots of the 
Revolution. When Mr. Vallandigham found that the war 
would go on, that all attempts to arrest it were vain and useless, 
he demanded that it should be carried on in a legal and con- 
stitutional manner, and confined his opposition principally to 
abuses of power on the part of the Administration. Such 
gross abuses had never been practised in this country, or in 
any other professing to be free. The most sacred and valuable 
rights guaranteed by the Constitution were in thousands of in- 
stances trampled upon, and acts of oppression and wrong of 
the most grievous character continually committed. For his 
denunciation of these, just as much as for his oi^position to the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 401 

war, was he assailed and slandered, and charges of disloyalty 
alleged against him. And yet in all this he was influenced 
by the purest patriotism and the sincerest love of the Union. 
He believed that the very first infringements of the rights and 
liberties of the people ought to be resisted. If quietly ac- 
quiesced in, even in time of war, they would form precedents 
for the future; and that following such precedents, some 
future President, anxious to prolong his own power or to keep 
in power the party to which he belonged, might in time of 
peace, under one pretext or another, suspend the writ of Ha- 
beas Corpus, or proclaim martial law, or interfere with freedom 
of speech or of the press, and thus wrest from the people their 
dearest rights, and inflict upon them most grievous wrongs ; 
and that ultimately a despotism might be permanently estab- 
lished on the ruins of our free institutions. 

These were the motives by which he was influenced, and 
their purity and correctness he was willing to commit to the 
decision of the " Great Hereafter," and calmly await the verdict 
of posterity. 



26 



CHA^PTER XVII. 

EVENTS FKOM 1865 TO 1870. 

Early in 1865 Mr. "Vallandigham, earnest and true in his 
desire to restore peace to the country distracted with civil war, 
made another effort in that direction. In 1863, during the 
time tliat Horace Greeley was in Canada upon an errand of like 
nature, he and Mr. Yallandigham had a short corresj^ondence ; 
and whilst their views widely differed as to the plans of adjust- 
ment of difficulties between the North and the South, Mr. 
Greeley had gained the respect of Mr. V. by the evident sin- 
cerity and humanity displayed in the correspondence. There 
had been rumors from AVashington of efforts about to be made 
to stop the effusion of blood, and Mr. Greeley had been there, 
it was reported, in conference with the Administration upon 
this important subject. Accordingly Mr. Vallandigham 
addressed the following letter to Mr. Greeley : — 

" Dayton, Ohio, January 23, 1865. 
"Hon. Horace Greeley, Washington, D. C. 

"My Dear Sir : — In consideration of our former correspon- 
dence, and that you have twice since urged negotiation for 
peace in our unhappy country, I intended just after the Presi- 
dential election, wdien no partisan motives could stand in the 
way, to address you on the subject; but the tone of the Presi- 
dent's message seemed so belligerent and so adverse to anything 
like peaceful efforts, that I gave up my purpose. For some 
weeks past I have with painful anxiety watched the renewal 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 403 

»f movements in that direction. I fear that little at present 
nay result from them ; but what is being done is at least an 
mportant point gained (I assume of course that they arc in 
^ood faith), and a good omen for the future. To mc, who for 
io long have been denounced and persecuted solely for insisting 
ipon a resort to negotiation and peaceful measures in this 
^reat controversy, they are especially grateful. Sooner or later 
t must come to this. Two years ago it would have been much 
jetter for the country had we succeeded in our efforts then; 
3ut Seward and Weed, as you well know, upon the one side, 
md the ' Albany Regency,' with Belmont, &c., on the other, as 
I well know, defeated the humane and wise purpose. The two 
•ears are gone — and great God, what a record! — but the sibyl 
■eturns; and if possible, let us buy this time." 

JSIr. Vallandigham then enlarged upon the military power 
)f the South, which still appeared formidable, and the great 
langer of foreign intervention with its attendant evils, and 
nade several historical references in illustration of his views. 
[n conclusion, he said : — 

" I could fill many pages with details ; for to me whose great 
study is and ever has been history, it is all before my eyes as if 
I reality. Can anything be done to avert it, or without it, the 
protraction of a most bloody and fruitless war for years longer? 
S^ow is the time. And if anything is begun, no effort must be 
spared to bring it to a successful conclusion ; since, as Robert- 
son in his Charles the Fifth remarks, unsuccessful negotiations 
)nly exasperate the parties whom they were intended to recon- 
3ile. But no negotiation will or can begin except on blank 
3aper. My sole purpose in addressing you now, is to say that 
kvhile I never have and never will combine with any party in 
:he prosecution of this war, I am yet ready to lay aside all 
personal griefs, all remembrance of personal wrongs, and unite 
A'ith any party or set of men in any honorable and patriotic 
jffbrt, through negotiation and peace, to restore, if possible, the 
ntegrity of our common country, and avert the terrible ruin 
ivhich impends it, and now hastens on every hour. If at any 
ime I can thus be of any service in any capacity, I am ready 
[or the work whenever and however summoned. And if the 



404 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

men who are striving to thwart the efforts for negotiation and 
peace shall again sncceed, it will become necessary nltimately — ' 
when, I say not — to associate, temporarily at least, and without 
any concealment or false pretence, all men, without reference to 
past questions, or even other future policies, into a party or 
alliance devoted to the great purpose of saving this country 
from either the dire ruin of successful tear in the course of 
years, or of division and foreign intervention, protectorates or 
alliances. I write confidentially, and shall be glad to hear from 
you in like manner in return. 

"Very truly, C. L. Vallandigham." 

Six days after this letter was written, the conference between 
President Lincoln and Secretary Seward upon the one hand, 
and Hon, A. H. Stephens and Judge Campbell upon the other, 
was held at City Point, near Petersburg, Virginia. The result 
of that conference was such that it dispelled all hope of peace, 
except through the bloody pathway of continued warfare. 
This attempt at adjustment of difficulties between the sections. 
having thus utterly failed, the war was waged with unrelent- 
ing vigor ; and seeing the hopelessness of the task, Mr. Vallan- 
digham made no further effort to secure a settlement of the 
t^^rriblc controversy. 

Early in April, however, the war was unexpectedly brought 
to a close by the surrender of General Lee. As soon as this 
was made known, there was great joy throughout the country. 
The night after the news reached the city, Dayton was illumi- 
nated, cannons were fired, and bonfires blazed. As usual on 
such occasions of j)ublic rejoicing, a portion of the community, 
not satisfied with the natural excitement of the hour, resorted 
to stimulants, and the saloons and groggeries were filled witli 
excited and intoxicated men. A crowd of worthless fellows 
of the baser sort, full of malignity and bad whiskey, in the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 405 

evening came down in front of Mr. Vallandigham's" house, 
where they groaned, hooted and yelled in the most frightful 
manner, alarming the lady inmates greatly. At last stones 
were thrown at the front windows, and in an instant ]Mr. Val- 
landigham appeared, pistol in hand, upon the porch. " I give 
you," said he, " two minutes to leave here ; I fire this pistol in 
the air once, in two minutes more I shall fire into the crowd." 
As he spoke he fired upwards, and instantly the mob broke and 
ran. This cowardly mob Avas denounced by every decent 
Re2:)ublican in the city, and the attempt to insult Mr. Vallan- 
digham and his family was never repeated. During the cam- 
paign of 1863, several times whilst no one except the ladies of 
the house were at home, similar insults were offered ; but after 
Mr. A^allandigham's return, except on the occasion just men- 
tioned, no one dared to attempt the base outrage. 

On the night of the 14th of April President Lincoln was 
assassinated. The news of his death produced an unprece- 
dented state of feeling in the country, and carried sorrow and 
mourning to many hearthstones where his name had been 
almost execrated. INIr. Vallandigham was an avowed and open 
enemy of Mr. Lincoln. He believed, and justly too, that he 
had been by the President cruelly and outrageously wronged ; 
but Mr. Lincoln's tragic and sudden death in an instant 
obliterated, at least for the time, all recollections of personal 
wrong and all feelings of personal resentment, and he imme- 
diately vncote these lines upon the sad event, which M-ere pub- 
lished the next day in the Dayton Empire as an editorial : — 

" Last night was a night of horrors in Washington. Pres- 
ident Lincoln perished by the hand of an assassin. At any 
time this would have been monstrous — inexpressibly horrible. 



406 LIFE 'OF CLEMEjS'T l. vallandigham. 

Just now it is the worst public calamity wliicli could have 
befallen the country. Great God ! liave mercv upon us ! This 
is the beginning of evils. The hearts and hopes of all men — 
even of those who had opposed liis policy earliest and strong- 
est — had begun to turn towards Abraham Lincoln for de- 
liverance at last. And not without reason ; for his course for 
the last three months has been most liberal and conciliatory. 
But he has fallen by the most horrible of all crimes ; and he 
who at this moment does not join in the common thrill and 
shudder which shocks the whole land, is no better than the 
assassin." 

About this time Mr. Vallandigham received an invitation 
to address the Young Men's Democratic Association of Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania. Xot being able to appear in person and 
deliver an address, he wrote a long and very able letter, which 
was immediately published in many of the papers and mdely 
circulated. In that letter he did not attempt to recommend 
any general policy to be adopted by the Democratic party — 
the state of the country was too unsettled for that — but he 
urged the importance of a maintenance of the organization, 
adherence to its great leading principles, and the infusion of 
new life and energy in order to be ready for vigorous and 
effective action whenever the time for action should come. 

On the 24th of August the State nominating convention 
met in Columbus. It was a large convention, composed of 
pure, patriotic, and intelligent men. Mr. Vallandigham was 
elected temporary chairman, and in takmg the chair embraced 
the opportunity — the first that had offered — to return his 
grateful acknowledgments to the Democracy of Ohio for the 
nomination he had received at their hands two years before, 
and for the warm and enthusiastic support they had given him 
in those days of peculiar peril and trial. 



LIFE OF CLEiIE^'T L. VALLAl^'DIGHAM. 407 

Very soon after the meeting of Congress in December 
1865, it became apparent that a breach -was not only i mmin ent 
but absolutely unavoidable between President Johnson and the 
party -svhich had elected him. As the session progressed the 
controversy between the President and Congress became still 
more bitter, until in January 1866, he declared in vehement, 
impassioned language, upon the porch of the "SVhite House, 
open \^-ar upon the Radical party. If Mr. Johnson, when he 
broke off from his former supporters, had called to his assist- 
ance the foremost men of the Democratic party, had imme- 
diately remodeled his cabinet, and had suppressed his pre- 
judices against the peace party of the Xorth as well as against 
the rebels of the South, it would have preserved him from 
much vexation of spirit, given him a strong hold upon the 
people, and secured his complete triumph over his enemies. 
But unfortunately he drew the flattering picture in his mind of 
a man, and that man himself, becoming the foundation of a 
great party, which, dependent upon him alone, and guided 
entirely by his counsels, should sweep the land like a tornado, 
and place him once more in the Presidential chair. And thus 
in imagination he foresaw himself in the future as the rival in 
greatness of 'Washington, the restorer of peace and harmony to 
a divided people, and the second saviour of his country. He 
therefore exhibited during the years 1865, 1866, and 1867 a 
coldness towards the most prominent members of the Demo- 
cratic party, and a positive animosit}- towards Mr. Vallandig- 
ham which he could not conceal. Yet at that time Mr. Val- 
landigham, more than any one man, had controlling influence 
over the masses of his party. Mr. Johnson was not governed 
by unpatriotic feelino-s in his course, but controlled by old 



408 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

prejudices, and he underrated very much the importance of the 
allies whose warm support he could easily have gained, and 
greatly over-estimated his strength and ability to cope with his 
powerful adversaries. Notwithstanding Mr. Vallandigham 
soon learned that Mr. Johnson still cherished an ill-feelinp: 
against him, he gave the President in his struggle with his 
inveterate foes in Congress, his support, but not with the zeal 
and earnestness lie would otherwise have displayed. Mr. John- 
son, with all his faults of character, inordinate self-esteem, 
obstinacy, and unreasonable prejudice, while he did not exhibit 
profound sagacity in his contest with Congress, developed a 
firmness and moral courage which entitle him to the respect 
of his countrymen. Yet the manner in which he endeavored 
to enforce his policy, rather than that policy itself, was a mis- 
fortune to the people of his own section, and has had much to 
do in delaying the reaction against the Radical part}-. 

In his refusal to assent to the Freedman's Bureau and the 
Civil Rights bills, he arrayed against him in fierce opposition 
the Republicans as a party ; yet many men of ability, of posi- 
tion and influence, who had been strong supporters of the war, 
were enlisted under his banner. During the early part of the 
winter of 1866, two clubs were organised in Washington city, 
composed of such elements, with the purpose of sustaining the 
President. One of these clubs, known as the National Union 
Club, was founded by Hon. A. N. Randall, of Wisconsin, the 
Assistant Postmaster-General, and was composed principally of 
Republicans dissatisfied with the action of the Radical party 
in Congress. The other, styled the National Union Johnson 
Club, was composed largely of men of Democratic antecedents, 
such as T. B. Florence of Pennsylvania, Charles Mason of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 409 

Ohio, and Montgomery Blaii- of Washington. These two 
associations soon consolidated under the name of the National 
Union Club, and from this organization emanated the call for 
the Philadelphia Convention of 1866. The call for this con- 
vention was addressed " to all electors in the thirty-six States 
and nine Territories of the United States, and in the District 
of Columbia, who, in a spirit of patriotism and love for the 
Union, can rise above personal and sectional considerations, and 
who desire to see a truly National Convention w^hich shall rep- 
resent all the States and Territories of the Union,", the purpose 
being " to hold counsel together upon the state of the Union, 
and to take measures to avert possible danger from the same." 
Mr. Yallandigham Avas distrustful of this movement from the 
start ; there were men connected Avitli it w^hom he regarded Avith 
suspicion, and he was apprehensive of a design to break up the 
Democratic party ; nevertheless he accepted the appointment 
of delegate to the Convention, and went there with l)ut little 
hope of seeing any good accomplished, but determined that any 
effort to destroy the great Democratic organization should be 
foiled. 

The Convention met on the 14th day of August, in the 
Wigwam, a large building erected specially for the meeting in 
the city of Philadelphia. In numbers and the distinguished 
character of its delegates the Convention was a success ; but it 
was composed of the most discordant elements, and too many 
of its members were professional office-seekers. Henry J. 
Raymond, of the New York Times, whose support of the Pres- 
ident had been timid and wavering, under the circumstances 
was allowed to exert too much influence in its deliberations, as 
were others also whose treachery soon after to INIr. Johnson 



410 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

showed plainly that they had never had any real sincerity in 

the movement. These were the very men who immediately 

upon the assembling of the Convention raised objections to the 

entrance of JNIr. Yallandigham, Hon. Fernando Wood, and 

other prominent Democrats into that body. Mr. Vallaudig- 

ham arrived in Philadelphia, and stopped at the Girard House, 

the day before the Convention met. As soon as his presence 

became known he was overrun with visitors. It was estimated 

that during his short stay in the city eight thousand people 

called to see him. His hand and arm became absolutely sore 

and wearied out by continual hand-shaking. At last he was 

forced to change liis room, actually to hide away from visitors, 

as he was becoming entirely exliausted. Tlie objection to his 

entering the Convention arose in the New York delegation, and 

was on account of hLs opposition to the civil war. The Ohio 

delegation, as well as JNIr. V. himself, w^ere highly incensed at 

this opposition to his admission to a seat, and there is no doubt 

that a majority of the Convention were in favor of his joining 

in the deliberations ; but as the question threatened to break up 

the meeting, or would at least j)roduce an angry discussion, 

he at length consented, although against his own convictions 

of right and duty, to withdraw. "When he sent the letter of 

withdrawal, he predicted that the result of the Convention 

would not affect to any extent the future j)olitics of the country-. 

In this, subsequent events proved him correct. Hon. J. R. 

Doolittle was selected permanent chairman, with a host of 

prominent politicians as vice-presidents. Every State and 

Territory was represented. Notwithstanding, however, the 

Convention was composed of many most able and influential 

gentlemen, and many of the most gallant and distinguished 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM. 411 

soldiers of the Federal army participated in its delibera- 
tions, and the greatest enthusiasm existed during its sittings, 
it scarcely produced a ripple in the j)olitical current of the 
times. In fact it was an utter failure. On the second day of 
the Convention Mr. Vallandigham sent in his letter of with- 
drawal. The rules of the Convention were then suspended in 
order to allow it to be read. The letter is as follows : — 

"GiEAED House, Philadelphia, Aug. 14th, 1866. 
" To the Chairman of the National Union Convention : — 

*' Sir : — I have this day received from the National Union 
Committee, through the Hon. Wm. S. Groesbeck, chairman 
of the joint Ohio delegation to your Convention, a ticket of 
admission as a delegate from that State. The Hon. George AV. 
McCook, chairman of the Democratic delegation from Ohio, 
has also communicated to me the following resolution, this 
morning adopted by that delegation : 

" ' Resolved, unanimously, by the Ohio Democratic delegation, 
That we recognise the right of Clement L. Vallandigham, a 
duly elected delegate from the Third Congressional District of 
Ohio, to hold a seat in that Convention ; that we should regard 
his exclusion from such a seat as an unjust, an unreasonable 
infringement of the rights of the Democracy of said district, 
and are ready to stand by him in the assertion of his rights 
and the rights of his constituents ; that we endorse cordially 
the jiurity and patriotism of his motives, and his fitness every 
way to sit in said Convention; yet, for the sake of harmony 
and good feeling in the same, and in order to secure the great 
ends for which it is called, we consent to his withdrawal from 
this delegation, and from a seat in the Convention, if, in his 
judgment, his duty to his constituents shall justify such with- 
drawal.' 

" Yielding my own deliberate convictions of duty and right 
to the almost unanimous opinion and desire of friends whose 
wisdom and soundness of judgment, and sincerity and purity 
of motives, I may not question, to the end that there shall 
be no pretext, even from any quarter, for any controverted 
question or disturbing element in the Convention to mar its 



412 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

harmony, or hinder in any way the results to the cause of the 
Constitution, the Union, and public liberty which shall 
follow from its deliberation and its action, I hereby withdraw 
from the Ohio Democratic delegation, and decline taking 
my seat in the Convention. I am profoundly conscious that 
the sanctity and magnitude of the interests involved in the 
present political canvass in the United States are too immense 
not to demand a sacrifice of every personal consideration in 
a struggle upon the issue of which depends, as I solemnly be- 
lieve, the present peace, and ultimately the existence of free 
republican government on this continent. 

" Trusting that your deliberations may be harmonious, 
your proceedings full of the spirit of wisdom and patriotism, 
and its results crowned with a glorious and a saving triumph 
in the end to the great cause in which every sympathy of 
my heart is enlisted, I am, very respectfully, &c., 

" C. L. VallandictHajm." 

The canvass of 1867 in the State of Ohio was exceedingly 
animated. Mr. Yallandigham entered upon it with his accus- 
tomed energy and earnestness. He visited every section of 
the State and addressed between seventy and eighty meetings ; 
" and it is a remarkable fact," said a Democratic paper at that 
time, ^'tliat wherever he spoke, the Democracy in those counties 
made proportionally larger gains than in any other portions of 
the State. Republicans came to hear him by thousands and 
went away divested of their insane prejudice against him. The 
opposition endeavored to make all the capital they could out 
of his identification with the canvass, but it was all to no pur- 
pose." The Democracy triumphed. They elected a majority 
in the Senate and House of Representatives, and thus secured 
the election of a United States Senator, which Avas the great 
aim and object of the contest. There was great rejoicing over 
the result. Jubilee meetings Averc held in various parts of the 
State. A very large one assembled at Mt. Vernon on the 24th 



LIFE OF CLEMEIv^T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 413 

day of October. Mr.yallandigham was jirescnt, and delivered 
an able and eloquent speech. A correspondent of the Cincin- 
nati Commercial, who was present and reported the speech, thus 
writes of the meeting and of Mr. Yallandigham's effort : — "At 
Mt. Vernon yesterday the crowd was immense — larger, I 
think, than I saw at any meeting of the campaign recently 
closed. ... As he [Mr. Vallandigham] passed through the 
streets of the town from the railroad depot in an open carriage, 
the people swarmed around him to feast their eyes upon him, 
and if possible to shake hands with him. ... He spoke with 
more vim and spirit than I had ever heard from him, and the 
repeated plaudits of his audience told with what effect he was 
addressing their Democratic h6arts." The followino- are ex- 
tracts from the speech : — 

"First, men of Knox, I give fervent thanks to almighty 
God for the blessings of this day. Next, to you, my friends, I 
make hearty acknowledgment of the earnest, devoted, pas- 
sionate enthusiasm of this reception. There is no speech nor 
language, dead or living, strong enough or copious enough to 
express the emotions of my heart at this moment. 

'Could I embody and unbosom now 
That which is most -within me — could I wreak 
My thoughts upon expression, and thug throw 
Soul, heart, mind, passions, feelings, strong or weak, 
All that I would have sought, and all I seek, 
Bear, know, feel, and yet breathe, into one word, 
And that word were lightning, I would speak.' 

"But pardon me, men of Knox, if, subduing my own 
swelling but voiceless thoughts and emotions, I beg that yours, 
too, may be hushed for a moment, while calmly and through 
historic narrative I call your memories back to the events which 
to-day we commemorate. And I am sure furthermore, my 
friends, that you will extenuate at least the seeming, not real, 
cgoti.-ni Avhich demands continued reference to iiij^self as a 
princi2)al actor in the scene. 



414 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" Four years and six months ago I stood upon this very 
spot to address thousands of my fellow-citizens, assembled 
openly and publicly, under the law and according to the Con- 
stitution, to consult for the common good, to instruct their 
representatives, and to petition for redress of grievances. I 
myself, too, had been proclaimed a candidate for nomination to 
the office of Governor of Ohio, Wherefore the people had a 
double right to liear, and I a two-fold claim to be heard. Yet 
my presence upon that day was almost constrained. Engage- 
ments required me elsewhere. But yielding to the urgent 
entreaties of your messenger specially deputed for the purpose, 
I came, not as orator of the day, but to fill a place in the pro- 
gramme of your proceedings, and I spoke, feebly indeed, yet 
with words of honesty and truth. That other speech, making 
an issue with the petty tyrants of the day, and responsive to 
' General Order No. 38,' and the other orders dated at Indian- 
apolis, and more atrocious still, forbidding all criticism of the 
acts and policies of the Lincoln Administration, was delivered 
the evening previous, upon consultation and after meditation, 
from the steps and amid the columns of the Capitol at Colum- 
bus. But the spies and hirelings of him whose name I loathe 
to utter [applause], stripped of their military uniform, and 
dishonoring for a while the garb of honest citizens, had been 
ordered to Mount Vernon ; and here leaning upon the platform 
and tainting the air of heaven with their foul jiresence, they 
did a work of infamy without example in military annals. 
[Applause.] They did it in secresy, and they did it in safety. 
Had they been known, and their mission understood, the 
scattered members of their worthless carcasses [applause], torn 
and wrenched and tossed by the arms and hands of ten 
thousand infuriate freemen, would have strewed the ground, a 
prey to lean dogs and hungry vultures, ^gorging and growling 
over carcass and limb ' [applause], if vulture and dog could 
consent to crunch and mumble and feed upon such flesh as 
theirs. [Applause]." 

After giving at considerable length an account of his illegal 
arrest, iniquitous trial, and unjust banishment, he continues : — 

" And to-day, men of Knox, I am again in your midst, a 
freeman, to speak to and for freemen as brave as God ever 
made among the children of men. [Great api^lauscj 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 415 

" And now, my friends, allow mc to recur to the scenes 
upon this spot four years and a-half ago. We were then in 
the midst of a civil war the most gigantic in numbers, in ma- 
terial, in effort; the grandest in proportions, the bloodiest and 
most destructive and desolating, and the most penetrating and 
far-reaching in its results and consequences, immediate and 
remote, ever waged — a civil war between thirty millions of 
people, a compound race, full of intellect, of courage, of will 
unconquerable, set on fire by passion, and the most belligerent 
and inexorable on the globe. The earth trembled under the 
tread of their armies ; the heavens reverberated the shock of 
their battles; almost an entire continent was the theatre of the 
conflict, and for four years it raged with the fury of the hur- 
ricane. 

" We were then, also, in the midst of a civil revolution, the 
most extraordinary ever recorded in the history of free gov- 
ernments — a revolution before which the Constitution was 
overthrown, the Union dissolved, and liberty crushed out be- 
neath a military and civil despotism the most searching, the 
most complete, the most appalling ever established in a repub- 
lic ; a despotism combining the madness and license of the 
mob with the system and discipline of the military — a des- 
potism to which fear in tyrants, ambition in generals, hate in 
churchmen, and madness in all, gave a cruelty, a desperation, a 
venom and a fury which smote and consumed and devoured as 
it walked in darkness or wasted at noonday. Freedom of 
speech, of the press, of public assemblages, and of the ballot, 
had all perished in every Border State South; and the 

* Butcher of Fredericksburg,' writhing and infuriate under 
defeat, had just been deputed to extinguish the last lingering 
spark of liberty in the Northwest. Once before, indeed, she 
had been assailed in the United States, and for a similar pur- 
pose — to suppress and crush out the opposition of the Dem- 
ocratic party under Jefferson to the French war of '98, stirred 
up by the Federal party under the elder Adams ; and my dis- 
tinguished friend here. Gen. Geo. ^Y. Morgan, statesman in 
peace, hero in war, chivalric gentleman at all times, bears in 
his veins the blood of a martyr to freedom of the press five- 
and-twenty years before I was born. But the re-action came ; 
the Democratic party triumphed, and the Constitution was 

* saved at the last gasp.' [Applause.] 



416 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLA:S"DIGHAM. 

"Under circumstances such as I have described, 5-0U, the 
men of Knox and of other counties near you, assembled upon 
this spot, sacred thenceforth and forever to liberty, to the num- 
ber of more then ten thousand. 'Tm^^s ]\Iay-day in the year 
of grace 1863. The sun shone brightly ; a thousand banners 
streamed peacefully in the gentle breeze ; every bird Avas upon 
the wing, and the forest rang vocal to their cheering melody. 
The flowers, too, lent their SAveetest perfumes, and the blue 
sky above Avas 

' So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful. 
That God alone was to be seen in heaven.' 

"But while all nature thus gave signs of good-will through- 
out her realm, and God commanded peace through all His 
works, far other was the scene Avhich man had ordained for the 
passions of his heart and the labors of his hands. jMars drove 
heavily and headlong his fiery chariot, while Terror, with gor- 
gon head, turned Religion and Pity and Mercy into stone. 
Your assembling, men of Knox, was an act of courage unsur- 
passed in history. Not Grecian, nor Roman, nor Swiss, nor 
English heroism ever excelled it. The days of the Tells, and 
the Stauffachers, and the ^yinkelrieds of history, and the Biedcr- 
manns and Donnerhiigels of fiction ; of Bruce, of Hampden, 
of Sidney, and of Russell, had returned in America ; and proudly, 
bravely, boldly we all met the crisis. You demanded that I 
should speak in your name, and I obeyed, hurling defiance at 
tyrants and usurpers and defilers of the holy temple of liberty 
wheresoever found. Standing here upon this spot, and under 
the same flag which floats now from the platform, I declared 
the war 'cruel and unnecessary;' and it was. [Cries of "That's 
so."] So had said Abraham Lincoln : ' not Avaged for the pre- 
serA^ation of the Union ; ' and it Avas not; ' but for the purpose 
of- crushing out liberty and establLshing a despotism ; ' Congress 
has so enacted, andAvho to-day doubts it? 'A Avar for the free- 
dom of the blacks;' so it Avas, and this is noAV the boast of the 
\ {leaders of the Republican party : ' a Avar for the enslavement 
^of the Avhitcs ; ' and to-day the Availing cry of six millions of 
Avhite men, disfranchised, burdened, oppressed, bruised, and 
crushed under the heel of a military despotism, established, 
not under the Constitution, but by Avarrant of the right of con- 
quest, attests the prescient truth of the declaration. ' Order 38 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDiGHAM. 417 

a usurpation of power ; ' and such it was, soon after trampled 
under foot, despised and spit upon by thirty thousand freemen 
assembled in Ohio's capital. ' That I was at all times and 
upon all occasions resolved to do what I could to defeat the 
attempts which were being made to build up a monarchy upon 
the ruins of free government.' Was ever prophecy so fulfilled? 
And here, to-day, in presence of twenty thousand freemen of 
Ohio, on ])ended knee, and upon this the self-same spot, I 
thank my God that I have been enabled to keep the resolution ; 
and now in His presence, and before you my witnesses, I 
renew the holy vow, and swear by the great white throne and 
Him who sitteth thereon, that, slavery having perished, the 
Union of our fathers, and the Constitution of our fathers, and 
the liberties secured by them, shall be preserved to us and our 
children's children forever ! [Applause.] 

" Far other scene, men of Knox, is witnessed here now. In 
the calm of an autumnal day, with a mellow October sun shin- 
ing down cheerily upon us, not ten, but twenty thousand free^ 
]uen greet the return of the exile and bid him good cheer ! 
[Great applause.] There is no war in the land to-day, no 
military despots here, no arbitrary arrests, no military trials, 
no 'orders' of whatsoever number, no provost-marshal, no 
judge-advocate, no conscriptions, no bastiles, no mobs, no 
assassinations, no exile, no scaffolds. [Applause.] There are 
no spies here to-day to pollute this sacred presence. In j^eace, 
in ease of mind, in the ' truce of God,' in security, with joy 
welling from every heart, beaming from every eye and speaking 
from every tongue, in shouts such as only freemen can send up, 
till the hollow concave above us rings again, we are assembled 
to celebrate the grandest political triumph ever achieved. 
[Applause.] 

"And now, my friends, without further exultation, allow 
me, in humbler and more measured tread, to recur to the 
lessons which this extraordinary victory teaches us. And, first 
of all, I reckon faith in God and the right, and along with 
these the ])atience which, steadfastly and without doubt or 
question, abides the leisure of Him who doeth all things well. 
There is something more than sublin'ie in that faith which, 
walking not by sight, sees yet the future as the present, and 
catches the first fiiint echoing of the footsteps of the Hereafter 
as he treads slowly but surely along the corridors of Time. 

27 



418 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Such has been the faith of the heroes and the martyrs, the 
actors and the sufferers of every age and clime 

" Another lesson of this great victory, men of Knox, is not 
the duty merely, but the profitableness of a stern, inflexible 
adherence to principle. The Democracy of Ohio, turning a 
deaf ear to the glozing, whispering, ghastly delusion and snare 
of 'policy,' so-called and miscalled, which would fain bargain, 
and cheat, and steal into office and power only to raven like 
the wolf and divide the spoil, have fought and won this fight 
upon the ancient, the straightest, sternest, ruggedest issues and 
doctrines of the party. They yielded not an inch ; and through- 
out the entire canvass, as for years past, they stood by and 
upheld the men who had been singled out as the special objects 
of Radical odium and reproach. They loved and honored, 
above all, those whom the Republican party hated and affected 
to despise. They murmured not against their leaders, though 
they had neither manna from heaven nor water from the rock. 
And to-day they possess the heritage of their enemies. Cour- 
age, men of Knox, courage ! Stand by principle, and by the 
men who represent principle, and not the mere policy and sjioils 
of political warfare. 

" Next, and with peculiar pleasure, let me bestow the meed 
of praise upon the gallant volunteers of Ohio, two-thirds of 
whom united with the Democratic party in the recent conflict. 
Soldiers, you did a work of courage high above that which on 
the battle-field gave you a name to live in American history. 
In the beginning you rallied to the old flag of your country, 
asking no questions of pay or pensions or bounty, assured that 
this Union was imperiled and the Federal authority mocked 
by rebellion. The Constitution, the Union, the flag : these 
were the battle-cries which called a whole people to arms. OuCS 
enlisted, in a little while the illusion vanished. But the strong 
arm of military discipline held you. Then, cut off from all 
intercourse and communication with home, except such only as 
was permitted to one party alone, you were taught to regard 
your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, your sisters, all who 
adhered to the Democratic party, as enemies and traitors to their 
country. I who speak to you here to-day, was above all men 
so reviled. But the war ended. You made your last march, 
your last bivouac; saw the last embers of your camp-fires, 
heard the last gun fired and the last drum beat, and listened 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 419 

at length with eyes full of tears and hearts full of joy to the 
swelling notes of the final * recall ' which spoke to you of home 
and hearth-stone and mother ! You are here, God be praised, 
though many a comrade's bones and dust repose in a far distant 
soil. You are here, your own masters, to judge and act and 
vote as you will. The false practices of those who imposed 
upon or tyrannised over you, stand revealed to-day — their real 
acts in the past, their real designs for the future. Your eyes 
are opened. The accumulated frauds and falsehoods of six 
years have perished before your scrutinising vision. And now 
to you, ' Boys in Blue,' in this presence, and before these my 
witnesses, let me say that all you ever heard and all you ever 
read charging me with hostility in thought or word or deed, 
at any time or in any place or in any station j)ublic or j^ri- 
vate, to you personally or as soldiers, is totally and absolutely 
false. We differed as to the war. You had a right to your 
opinions ; I to mine. These are the same now as in and from 
the beginning. As to yours, answer for yourselves in the light 
of the history of the past six years. But now, and here, upon 
this spot, bring forward any responsible endorser of the false- 
hoods I have denounced, any man of note, prince or peer, from 
highland or lowland, from far or near, and I will tell him to 
his teeth, 

" Lord Angus, thou hast lied." 

" Finally, men of Knox, we have won a great and magni- 
ficent victory. What shall we do with it ? Upon this question, 
so comprehensive, so significant, so momentous, depends not 
merely whether the Democratic party shall go forward to future 
and further triumphs, but whether it shall live. If it shall be 
true to principle, true to the men who represent principle, full 
of courage, hearkening to no timid counsel, yet securing har- 
mony and good-will in its ranks ; if firmly and Avith inexor- 
able purpose it shall do the work appointed for it, and with all 
this, shall combine wisdom and honesty and moderation and 
justice in all its acts; above all, if in every measure and 
utterance outside the limits of mere party organization, it shall 
consult the good of the country, and not of party, or, baser still, 
the men of the party, it will rul^ again in the affairs of the 
State Government and the Federal Government for a hundred 
years to come. But if, taking counsel of the timid, tlic venal, 
the corrupt, it shall shrink from an absolute and courageous 



420 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

assertion of its principles, and enforcement of its policies and 
vindication of its public men ; if it shall halt one jot or tittle 
in its support of the issues upon which it won the light ; if it 
shall permit dissension and discord as to candidates or upon 
policies and measures of legislation ; especially if, forgetting 
that it is a Democracy, it shall have regard rather to the 
interest of ca'pital than of labor, of the rich than the poor, the 
few than the many; and shaii consider section, or party, or 
self, rather than the country and the whole country — in the day 
that it shall eat of such fruit it shall surely die, and upon its 
gravestone, for monument it will have none, shall be inscribed 
the lamentation of Carthage over her greatest son, ' You 
knew how to conquer, but not how to use the victory.' [Great 
cheering.]" 

Mr. McCulloch, the very able correspondent of the Cincin- 
nati Commercial, who reported this speech, wrote on the same 
day the following letter from Mount Vernon, in which he gives 
some interesting gossij) in relation to the contest for United 
States Senator which followed the election of 1867. 

" Mount Vernon, Ohio, October 25. 

" While the Democratic party of Ohio was in a minority 
that seemed hopeless, and would have remained so but for the 
indiscreet zeal of its opponents, its leaders were a band of 
brothers, united by a tie of fraternal affection equaled only by 
that recorded of David and Jonathan, Castor and Polhix, 
Damon and Pythias, or other loving ones whose mutual admi- 
rations are the subjects of sacred and profane .histories. A 
year ago, if Vallandigham had been asked who was the greatest 
of living statesmen, he would have unhesitatingly responded 
' George H. Pendleton ; ' to the same inquiry Sir. Pendleton 
would have responded, ' Clement L. Vallandigham.' . . . 

" There are some features of this contest worthy of especial 
note, and it is for the purpose of mentioning a few of them 
that this letter is written. First, the subterranean bitterness 
with which it is being conducted ought to be noticed, because 
it is in such contrast with the spirit of brotherly love that 
appears on the surface. Vallandigham's friends are swearing 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 421 

blue vengeauce upon all who refuse to support him, or who 
assert that to elect him would injure the prospects of the Dem- 
ocratic party in the fnture ; and Val. himself answers all such 
objections by appeals to history and philosophy, and the pro- 
verbial zeal of new converts. When the fear is expressed that 
his election would drive back to the Republican ranks all the 
accessions made to the Democracy in the late elections, he replies 
that those who voted the Democratic ticket for the first time 
this fall are more ultra Democratic to-day than those who 
have been voting it all their lives. Another remarkable 
feature of the fight is the diiference of opinion between the 
Democratic people and the Democratic politicians on the sub- 
ject of Vallandigham. Of those who voted the Democratic 
ticket on the 8th of October, a very large majority would un- 
questionably vote Vallandigham into the Senate if the matter 
were submitted to them for decision, and yet in many places 
where he is strongest with the people he is weakest with the 
politicians. It is difiicult to account for this inconsistency in a 
party professing so much faith in the vox populi. My own 
impression is that the true solution of the problem is to be 
found in the jealousy of Vallandigham's popularity which 
pervades the breasts of many would-be leaders of the Democ- 
racy, rather than in any well-meant eiforts to secure or preserve 
the ascendancy of the party by keeping such an ' extreme man ' 
in the background. The latter is a very convenient pretext, 
and its diligent application in the case of Vallandigham has 
many parallels in the political history of this and other 
countries. It is not the first time that mediocre talents have 
yelped themselves into official station by an unmeaning outcry 
against men who differ from their possessor principally in 
having more brains. ... 

" I shall not attempt to account for Mr. Vallandigham's 
popularity among the Democratic masses ; least of all shall I 
attribute it to the same cause to which I attribute his unpop- 
ularity among the Democratic politicians. I have attended 
two 'jollification ' meetings recently, and have seen at each such 
demonstrations in the direction of hero-worship as are seldom 
exhibited in this country. ... 

" The speech occupied a little over an hour in its delivery, 
and I thought that at its conclusion the assembled Democrats 
would quietly disperse to their respective homes. But not so. 



422 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

The ovation, instead of having ended, had just commenced, 
and for about an hour there was such a scene of wild con- 
fusion, j)roduced by attempts to congratulate the speaker, as si 
seldom witnessed by any one, and I hope will never again 
be witnessed by me except from a respectful distance. . They 
crowded around his carriage, they choked every avenue of 
travel about him, and conducted themselves in a general way 
like so many lunatics. . . . 

" Meantime, while the people are enthused for Val., the poli- 
ticians are calmly surveying the scene and calculating the 
results. As far as I can learn, a majority of the Democratic 
members elect to the Legislature have expressed themselves in 
favor of Judge Thurman. There is a possibility that Mr. Pen- 
dleton may come in as a compromise candidate, or rather there 
Avas such a possibility before the Enquirer threw cold water on 
it by nominating its favorite for the Presidency. The greater 
does not include the less in politics, and if Mr, Pendleton is a 
candidate for President he can't be made Senator — that's 
certain. The quarrel is a little mixed as it stands, and prom- 
ises to wax into extreme liveliness before it terminates. Val.'s 
strongest point is that the Republican party made the issue on 
him, and that the election of a Democratic Legislature meant 
his election as Senator." 

The contest for Senator between !Mr. Yallandigham and 
Judge Thurman at the commencement of the year 1868, was 
carried on by their respective partisans with great earnestness 
and bitterness. Nearly all the Democratic politicians of the 
State were enlisted in it, and went to Columbus to join in the 
conflict. The principal objections urged against him were his 
radical Democracy, his alleged rasliness, and the prominent 
part he took in opposition to the war. When the caucus met, 
Judge Thurman received the nomination by a decided major- 
ity. It is useless to conceal the fact that JNIr. Vallandigham 
was deeply chagrined at this result. The Senatorship had 
been his life-long aspiration, and he felt keenly at the time, 
and deeply till the day of his death, the disappointment of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 423 

his defeat. It was the only defeat he ever siiifered (and he 
was not a fortunate politician) that really grieved him, or 
caused him more than momentary mortification or depression. 
He did not waste his breath or degrade his character by 
unmanly repining, but when he returned home from Colum- 
bus u2)on this occasion, he appeared for days as if a dark 
shadow had fallen upon his soul. 

On the 4th of July, 1868, the Democratic Convention to 
nominate candidates for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, met in the city of New York. Mr. Vallandig- 
ham, although not a delegate, went on to New York and took 
up lodgings in a quiet, retired portion of the city a few days 
before the Convention. He did not come on to work for any 
candidate, at least not at first ; for on account of a coldness 
which had unfortunately arisen between Mr. Pendleton and 
himself, growing out of the Senatorial contest, he would not 
give that gentleman his active su:pport ; and yet on account of 
old memories of friendship, and because Mr. Pendleton was the 
favorite of the Ohio Democracy, he would do nothing against 
him. He was persuaded, however, that the only hope of 
assured success to the Democracy was the nomination of Chief- 
Justice Chase. Nor did he regard the support of Chase as 
inconsistent ; for that gentleman had always been a Democrat 
in principle, and an extreme State rights man, differing from 
the old orthodox Democracy only upon those questions which 
had been finally settled by wager of battle. In the course of 
events in the Convention it soon became necessary to strengthen 
the Ohio delegation, and Mr. Vallandigham for this purpose 
was substituted for another gentleman. He immediately 
dropped all recollection of personal grievances, and steadflistly 



424 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 

and earnestly supported Mr. Pendleton until his name was 
withdrawn. The contest after this seemed to be between Gen. 
Hancock and Mr. Hendricks. Mr. Pendleton had written a 
letter favorable to the nomination of Mr. Seymour, to be used 
if it should prove necessary to withdraw his own name ; and 
Mr. Pendleton's friends were determined that Mr. Hendricks 
should not be the nominee. They were influenced by two 
reasons in their opposition to Mr. Hendricks : first, they accused 
his friends of acting in bad faith towards Mr. Pendleton ; and 
second, they considered that the nomination of the Indiana 
Senator would destroy all chances for their favorite in 1872, it 
not being likely that two Western men living in States contigu- 
ous would be nominated successively by the Democrats. Mr. 
Vallandigham still regarded the nomination of ^Mr. Chase with 
favor, but necessarily he was governed to a considerable extent 
in his course by a consideration of the future interests of ^Ir. 
Pendleton and by the views of Mr. Pendleton's friends; he 
had, however, no shadow of personal enmity to Mr. Hendricks. 
The night of the 8th of July was one of feverish excitement 
in New York amongst all who were interested in the result of 
the Convention. Mr. Vallandigham scarcely slept during the 
whole night ; and he was consulted by men from nearly every 
State in the Union. Early in the evening it was decided to 
withdraw Mr. Pendleton's name, but every one was in the dark 
as to what would be the result of this movement. Towards 
morning the knowing ones were confident that it would be 
speedily followed by the nomination of Chief- Justice Chase; 
o wins', however, to circumstances which we have not space to 
detail, the Ohio delegation presented the name of Horatio 
Seymour, who on the next ballot — the 22d — received 317 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 425 

votes, and ^vas immediately after unanimously declared the 
nominee of the Convention. 

After the New York Convention Mr. Vallandiffham 
returned home, and for the time devoted himself exclusively 
to the editorial management of the Dayton Ledger^ in which 
paper he had then a proprietary interest. The Congres- 
sional canvass was coming on in the Third District, and it 
•was generally conceded that Gen. Schenck would again be the 
standard-bearer of the Republican party. Two years previous 
Gen. Schenck had beaten the Democratic nominee, Gen. Durbin 
Ward, 1067 votes. The question among Democrats was, 
" Whom shall we enter against Schenck?" Gen. Ward early 
announced himself as a candidate, but not before assuring him- 
self that Mr. V. had no ambition in that direction. Many 
leading Democrats of the District waited upon Mr. V. and 
asked him to be a candidate, but to all he made but one reply : 
he would not be a candidate. At that time there was a reason- 
able hope that the reaction had come that was to carry the 
Democracy into power. To all of his friends Mr. Vallandig- 
ham said: "If we are successful this fall in the election of a 
Democratic administration, I shall hope for something better 
in politics than a seat in Congress; without a Democratic 
administration I have no desire to become a member of that 
body." In this determination he was fixed and unalterable, 
though urged as few men have ever been to allow the use of his 
name. With the understanding that Mr. Y. would not be a 
candidate, several other prominent Democrats entered the arena. 
Among themwere Hon. Christopher Hughes, of Butler; Stephen 
Crane, Esq., of Butler; and Jonathan Kenny, Esq., of Mont- 
gomery. In the meantime INIr. Vallandigham, expressing the 



426 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

kindest feelings for all the candidates, made no secret of his 
preference for Mr. John A. McMahon. He seemed to think that 
Mr. M., being a popular man in both Butler and Montgomery 
Counties, and in fact throughout the District, would be the 
most available candidate to cope Avith Schenck. He knew the 
foeman and the nature of the struggle. Mr. McMahon op- 
posed the proposition to make him a candidate from the first, 
despite the urgings of Mr. Vallandigham. 

The nominating convention was held at Hamilton, Butler 
County, on Tuesday, the 18th day of August. Up to the 
morning of the convention the political status was precisely as 
above indicated — Mr. McMahon stoutly protesting against his 
proposed candidacy and Mr. Vallandigham insisting, with the 
belief that if the nomination was made Mr. McM. would ac- 
cept. Before the assembling of the Convention it was made 
known that ]\Ir. McMahon had placed in the hands of Hon. 
Geo. "VV. Houk a positive letter of declination, which he in- 
structed him to read to the Convention in case of the presenta- 
tion of his name. This fact was telegraphed to Mr. Vallandig- 
ham, then in Dayton. His response was that Houk must 
be prevailed upon to withhold the letter. He sent a number 
of telegrams to this effect to his friends, and finally, as a dernier 
resort, telegraphed that if possible McMahon should be nom- 
inated over his letter and against his protestation. We 
mention this fact in order to impress the point that INIr. V. 
had no wish to be a candidate, but that he was firmly devoted 
to ISIr. McMahon. The charge of bad faith, afterward made 
against him, was without ground and wholly unwarranted. 

The Convention met at 10 o'clock at Opera Hall, and Hon. 
Geo. W. Houk, of Montgomery, was made chairman. It 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 427 

was apparent from the commencement that a strong feeling ex- 
isted in the Convention in favor of Vallandigham. Many 
believed that he of all others was the man to meet and battle 
Schenck, but the general understanding that he would not 
l^e a candidate served to divide up the vote among the other 
candidates in such a way as to deprive any one man of a 
majority. The struggle seemed to be between Gen. Ward and 
Hon. Stephen Crane. The nominations made were as follows: 
Durbin Ward, of Warren; Christopher Hughes, of Butler; 
Stephen Crane, of Butler, and Jonathan Kenny, of Mont- 
gomery. On the first ballot Ward received 28| votes; 
Hughes 15|; Crane 17, and Kenny 1; whole vote 62; neces- 
sary to a choice 32. The second ballot resulted. Ward 29 J; 
Crane 18; Hughes 11 J, and Kenny 2. At this point the 
Butler County delegation asked and obtained leave to with- 
draw for consultation. It should be here observed that Mr. 
]\Ic]Mahon was placed in nomination after the first ballot, 
but the President refused to entertain it in view of his 
positive instructions. Upon the return of the Butler dele- 
gation, Peter Murphy withdrew the name of Mr. Hughes. 
The name of Mr. Crane was withdrawn about this time, 
and Mr. Samuel Dickey arose, and in a brief but stirring ad- 
cbess placed in nomination C. L. Vallandigham. The sug- 
gestion was received with storms of applause, and for ten min- 
utes it was impossible to quell the enthusiasm which the 
announcement evoked. Order being restored, a vote was had, 
which resulted as follows: Vallandigham, 51 J; Ward, lOi. 
A scene ensued upon the heels of this announcement seldom if 
ever witnessed in a similar body. Cheer after cheer went up, 
hats were tossed into the air, old men swung their coats above 



428 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

their heads, aud for the time it seemed that the representative 
Democracy of the Third District had gone mad with joy. It 
was an ovation such as any man might well be proud of. 

That night a committee which had been appointed to notify 
Mr. Vallandigham of his nomination, waited upon him at his 
home in Dayton. He received them cordially, and in a brief 
speech accepted the nomination, as coming spontaneously from 
his friends and political associates. He again reiterated his 
feeling in reference to the nomination, and assured his friends 
that he had not sought the honor. 

It cannot be denied that at first there was considerable op- 
position in the party-ranks to the nomination of Mr. Vallan- 
digham. It came from the friends of defeated candidates and 
those Avho believed that Mr. Vallandigham had already received 
sufficient marks of confidence from the people of his district, 
but in less than two weeks all differences were healed. Mr. 
Vallandigham at once went to work with an energy and will 
such as few men ever possessed, and gave his friends to under- 
stand that he appreciated the nature of the task before him. 
Schenck immediately came into the district, backed by the money 
and influence of Eastern capitalists who appreciated the need 
of the continuance of the great " tariffite " in Congress, and 
such a battle was fought as was never fought in the political 
history of Ohio. It was a national struggle. Both men were 
regarded as true representatives of party ; the district was at 
that time rather closely divided, and the eyes of the whole 
country were upon them. Never in Mr. Vallandigham's 
career did he exhibit such political sagacity, untiring zeal, in- 
domitable will, and power for organising, controlling, and 
marshalling political hosts. He seemed to be ubiquitous. The 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 429 

second week of the campaign found hundreds of men enlisted 
under his banner who had in times past been his bitterest 
enemies. INlany who but a few months previous had fought 
him, now stood in the front rank of his army. During the 
campaign he spoke nearly every day. He went all over the 
district, and -everywhere gave personal supervision to the can- 
vass. When at home he worked every night in his office, 
writing letters and making personal appeals. It is believed, and 
in fact he so stated himself, that during that memorable cam- 
paign he did not average more than four hours' sleep in twenty- 
four. Schenck imported to the district the best talent and 
most aggressive orators upon the Radical side. Vallandigham 
fought almost single-handed and alone. 

In the early part of the fight he received from Washington 
that which promised at first to be a substantial aid. It was 
an assurance from Hon. Montgomery Blair, at that time prom- 
inent in the councils of the Johnson Administration, that no 
revenue appointments would be made for the Third District 
which had not received his (Vallandigham's) recommendation. 
Schenck was not long in finding this out, and by appealing to 
Commissioner Rollins, managed to thwart the movement which 
promised to give the Democracy the control of the large army 
of revenue officials in the Third District. Mr. McCulloch, Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, could appoint the storekeepers under 
the revenue law, but the power of assignment belonged to Mr. 
Rollins, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Mr. McCulloch 
made seventeen appointments at Mr. Vallandigham's request, 
but General Schenck succeeded in persuading Mr. Rollins, who 
was a Radical, to refuse to assign any of Mr. McCulloch's ap- 
pointments. The effect was that through Mr. Rollins' refusal 



V 



430 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

to assign, sixteen distilleries were kept idle in the Third District 
during the whole campaign, causing a loss of revenue to the 
Government estimated by the Collector at about $10,000 a day. 

Mr. Vallandigham was sanguine from the commencement. 
His positiveness was infused into doubting friends, and many 
votes were made to liim through the exercise of this peculiar 
trait of character. He honestly and sincerely believed up to 
the night before the battle that his election was assured. On 
the day of the election he went in person to the Soldier's 
Home, near Dayton, where arrangements had been made by 
the opposition to poll against him the votes of several hundred 
non-residents, but by his presence and his clear enunciation of 
the statute he thwarted the enemy and prevented the outrage. 
For this act he was afterward severely censured by the par- 
tisan Radical press, but subsequent events proved the wisdom 
and even policy of his course. 

An immense amount of money was spent during the cam- 
paign by both parties. The number of votes cast was very 
large, and warranted the suspicion that a good many of them 
were illegal. The vote was as follows : 

Vallandigham. Schenck. 

BxJTLEK 5,333 - 3,200 

MONTGOMERY 6,557 - 6,440 

Preble 1,979 •- 2,769 

Warren 1,949 - 3,884 

15,818 16,293 

— Schenck's majority, 475. 

The night of the election, scores of telegrams were received 
in the District from all parts of the country asking the 
news : several from AYashburne who that night was sitting 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 431 

up with General Grant to learn the result of the elec- 
tions. The disai3pointment of Mr. Vallandigham's friends 
was very great, even much more than his own, and it had a 
most depressing effect amongst his own party all over the 
State. Although beaten, the result showed that Mr. Yallan- 
digham had been steadily gaining in popularity for years. The 
addition of Warren County in 1860, with a Kepublican ma- 
jority of 2,000, to the old Third District, made it very strongly 
\J Republican. But a comparison ,of the vote for years in the 
old District first represented by Mr. Vallandigham shows how 
steadily he was gaining control over the hearts of the people. 
In 1854 he was beaten 2,562; in 1856, 19 (including illegal 
votes) ; in 1858 he carried the old District by 188, in 1860 by 
134, in 1862 by 700, and in 1868 by 1,452. At the Presi- 
dential election Grant carried the District by a very laro-e 
majority. 

In January 1870 Mr. Yallandigham formed a partnership 
with Hon. Daniel A. Haynes, who had been the Superior Judge 
of Montgomery County. From this time he earnestly addressed 
himself to his duties as a lawyer; and his practice, which had 
long been greatly neglected, continually increased, so that at 
the time of his death it was very large and lucrative. As a 
jury lawyer he was probably excelled by few in the United 
States in eloquence and general effectiveness, and it is un- 
fortunate that none of his speeches in the many important 
cases he tried between the years 1865 and 1871 were ever re- 
ported, for in the judgment of able critics many of liis efforts 
at the bar were finer specimens of real eloquence than th(jse in 
Congress and on the hustings. He took very little part in 
\/ politics during the years 1869 and 1870. In the latter year 



432 IIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Hon. L. D. Campbell; his former political rival and adversary, 
was nominated for Congress by the Democrats of the District 
against General Schenck, and Mr. Yallandigham gave Mr. 
Campbell his cordial support. Finding a few days before the 
election that in defiance of the decision of the Supreme Court 
of the State an effort would be made by the Eadical party to 
poll the votes of the inmates of the " Soldier's Home " near 
Dayton, he determined to see to it personally that this viola- 
tion of law should be thwarted. The effort was made, but 
early in the morning Mr. Yallandigham arrived on the ground, 
and by his boldness and firmness the attempt of Mr. Schenck's 
friends to poll over six hundred illegal votes was entirely de- 
feated. This secured the election of Mr. Campbell. The de- 
cision by which the " Soldier's Home " vote had been declared 
illegal was made in a case which Mr. Yallandigham argued be- 
fore the Supreme Court ; and the judges of the Court, all of them 
members of the Eepublican party, had unanimously concurred 
in the decision. 

At a jubilee meeting held in honor of his election, Mr. 
Campbell referred in the following terms to Mr. Yallandig- 
ham's conduct during this campaign : — 

'' I thank, from the bottom of my heart, those magnanimous 
Democrats who came forward to the rescue, and helped carry 
me through triumphantly in this campaign. [Applause ; and 
cries of " Yes, yes, we'll always do it."] It would be impos- 
sible for me to single out and name the prominent individuals 
of the Democratic party to whose individual action might be 
attributed this success. There are many who had a sufficient 
influence in their respective neighborhoods to have produced 
my defeat if they had used that power. But there was one man 
of prominence — one man known and recognised, not merely 
by the Democracy of this district, but by the Democracy of the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 433 

entire nation, as one of eminent ability, who had occupied high 
positions in the party — whom you have often delighted to 
honor [enthusiastic applause] — a single individual who, after 
my nomination, might have accomplished my defeat by a nod, 
by a wave of his hand, by the Avink of his eye — a man who, 
unlike those I have described, a man upon whom I had no 
claim personally or politically, with a magnanimity unequalled 
by anything that I now recollect of, came forward and labored 
assiduously to enable me to triumph over those miserable and 
pitiful efforts of my enemies. [Applause.] 

" I say that I had no personal or political claims upon him, 
and I am here to-night proudly to acknowledge to my neigh- 
bors and countrymen that in this contest he gave evidence of 
a magnanimity that I could not have claimed for myself. That 
man is C. L. Vallandigham [tremendous applause] ; and with- 
out going, my fellow-citizens, into a detail of what he has 
done, let me refer to this one fact, that it is to his ability as a 
laAvyer, and to his untiring efforts, that the question as to the 
constitutional right of the inmates of the ' Soldier's plome ' to 
vote was brought before the Supreme Court, and there decided 
in the negative." 

Just before the jubilee meeting where Mr. Campbell de- 
livered this speech, a meeting of a similar character was held 
at Dayton which Mr. Vallandigham addressed. In the course 
of his remarks he took the occasion to give the colored voters, 
of whom quite a number were present, judicious advice in 
these words : — 

" And now allow me a word to our newly made voters of 
African descent. I have no apologies to make to-night for 
anything in opposition to them which I may have said in 
times past — nothing now to take back. My opinions upon 
the question of negro suffrage and equality remain unchanged. 
[Loud cheers.] But you have in fact, at least, been made 
citizens and voters, and I recognise the fact. Some of you 
speak of me as an enemy of your race. This is not correct. 
Individually I have been your friend. I have taken you 

28 




434 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLAIs'DIGHAi]. 

l)v the hand when your now M'hite Republican friends shunned 
and cursed you. At my doors some of you haye receiyed 
that charity, in years past, which was denied you at the hands 
of your Abolition friends, so-called. [Cries, *' That's so, we 
know it."3 Xo colored man eyer asked a personal fayor of 
me for years past and M'as denied ; and as Ayell before }-ou had 
sufirage conferred upon you as now, I would haye protected 
you in court or against a mob quite as willingly and as ear- 
nestly as any other man. But my opinions as to the question 
of conferring political rights upon you in this country were 
honestly entertained and candidly and strongly expressed. 
Yet, if you shall proye yourselyes worthy of these riglats and 
capable of exercising them as good citizens, I will then yery 
cheerfully, and iu a manlike manner, publicly confess myself 
mistaken. Your future is in your own hands. But remember 
that you do not hold the balance of power iu this county, nor 
in this district. [Loud cheers.] You camiot control things 
by your yotes; numbering seyeral hundred yoters here, you 
are yet rather a source of weakness than of strength to the 
Republican party ; and you owe nothing to that party except 
the mere right to try the experiment of suiFrage. They did 
not confer it upon you for your sakes, but for their omu as 
partisans and demagogues. [Loud cheers.] They wanted 
your votes to put themselyes into office and keep themselyes in 
power. Beyond this they care nothing for you. [Cries of 
" That's so i^ you're right."] The mass of you were personal 
slaves, or the descendants of slaves in the South before and 
during the war. At the point of the bayonet they freed you, 
only now to make you, if you submit, political slaves for their 
own profit and advancement. And now, I, who owe you 
nothing, and to whom you owe less than nothing politically, 
warn you not to organise as a colored party. Beware of 
threatening or attempting to make all of your own race act 
and vote as a distinct body. If you do, then be assured that 
sooner or later the white race will antagonise you as white 
men ; and here we are as twenty to one. In a political struggle 
we can overwhelm you. In a contest of arms — in a war 
of races, if you provoke it — we can crush out and exterminate 
you. Wherefore be wise in time. The Irish do not vote in a 
body; neither do the Germans, nor the Americans born; and 
be assured that a 'Negro party' will bring forth a 'White 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 435 

Man's' part}^; and not long after will come violence and 
bloodshed. If you would prove yourselves worthy to be and 
remain citizens, separate, divide, politically and otherwise, as 
other citizens do. Identify yourselves with the community in 
which you live. Refuse to be made the slaves and tools of 
demagogues ; and when thus you shall have established your 
fitness for citizenship, no one will ever attempt to deprive you 
of its rights. Remember that I, who speak these words, owe 
you nothing, and you owe me nothing ; but right or wrong, 
wisely or unwisely, you have been forced upon us as citizens, 
and I counsel you now as such. You may hearken to me, or 
not, just as it shall please you ; but be assured that the time 
will come when you will say that I counseled you most wisely 
and well. [Loud cheers.] " 

The five years which we have just briefly re\4ewed were 
the least exciting and eventful of ]SIr. Vallandigham's political 
life. During these years he gave most of his time and attention 
to the jjractice of his profession, to reading and study, and to 
the society of his family and Mends. Still, as will be seen, he 
felt a deep interest and took an active part in political affairs, 
was part of the time editor of the Dayton Ledger, partici- 
pated in the deliberations of the National Convention of 1868, 
was that year a candidate for Congress, and in the Presidential 
and Congressional canvass that followed, as well as in the Stat€ 
canvass of 1867, he labored with great diligence and character- 
istic ardor and zeal. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NEW DEPARTURE. 

Perhaps no political movement in this country ever created 
a greater sensation than did the New Departure. This name 
may not be altogether appropriate — probably it is not ; but 
we use it because by it the movement is generally designated 
and knoAvn, It was not a sudden thing with Mr. Yallaudig- 
ham. He had contem2)lated it for more than a year, and only 
waited a favorable time for its development. That time, at 
least in his opinion, at length came. 

On the 18th day of May, 1871, the Democracy of Mont- 
gomery County, Ohio, met in convention in the city of Dayton. 
The object of the meeting was to appoint delegates to the State 
•Convention which was to assemble on the first day of June. 
The meeting was organised by the election of the Hon. G. W. 
Houk, President, Judge McKemy and Mayor ISIorrison, Vice- 
Presidents, and George P. Boyer, Esq., Secretary. 

On taking the chair Mr. Houk made an able address, in 
which, not obscurely, he shadowed forth the action which was 
afterwards taken by the meeting. He said : — 

" To entitle the Democratic party to success in the approach- 
ing contest, we must make a distinct declaration of our prin- 
ciples and purposes upon the living issues of the present. We 
are a historical, but not merely a historical organization. The 
task before us now, is the rescue of the country from misrule 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 437 

and the preservation of our constitutional system of govern- 
ment. 

""VYe must recognise and accept the changed state of the 
country as actually resulting from the war. 

"Democratic principles are unchangeable, but Democratic 
statesmanship modifies in countless methods the application of 
these principles to the changed circumstances and necessities of 
society. 

" The war has left us new questions to meet — questions of 
finance, taxation, citizenship, and constitutional status. 

"It is folly to attempt to reverse events. If an earthquake 
has made a lake where there was once a mountain, men must 
accept the lake for the mountain. 

"So in political convulsions. It is only true political 
wisdom to recognise and accept the actual changes, for it is 
these with which we must deal. 

" Let us therefore accept universal suffrage, but demand that 
it shall be universal. Let us accept the amendments that have 
been made to the Constitution as de facto amendments, and 
live up to them, subordinating them only to the principles of 
the Constitution itself. 

"AYe might as well talk of the Tower of Babel as of 
slavery. It was about the time of the flood. 

" So also of other matters of the past. 

" What we want now for this vigorous body of the young 
Democracy is not tlie dreamy contemplation of the past, but 
the energetic spirit of the present. We want to grapple with 
what is before us, not to waste our strength by struggling with 
that which is receding further and further from us as time 
advances. 

"What we predicted more than twenty years ago, as the 
ultimate result of slavery agitation and the ascendancy of that 
element in our politics, has all come to jDass — civil war, 
negro equality, and all. 

" Let us simply, therefore, recognise things as they are, and 
by our organization and power give assurance to the people of 
the country that we will correct the abuses of mal-administra- 
tion, that we will carefully regard the rights and interest of the 
producing and industrial classes, whilst extending to capital all 
the consideration it is entitled to ; and that we will preserve and 
defend as the great sheet-anchor of our future safety and great-, 



438 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 

ness as a people, tlie true principles of our Constitutional system 
of government as established by its founders." 

On motion of INIr. Yallandigham, it was resolved tliat a 
committee be appointed to draft resolutions for the considera- 
tion of the meeting ; whereupon the chair appointed the fol- 
lowing : C. L. Yallandigham, Dr. A. Geiger, David A. Houk, 
Dr. John Kemp, John A. McjNIahon, Adam Clay, and George 
V IS"aureth. 

After the appointment of delegates to the State Convention, 
and the transaction of some other business, Mr. Vallandigham, 
from the Committee on Eesolutions, reported the following : — 

"Whereas, The Democratic party of 1871 is made up of 
men who previous to and during the late war, as also for a 
time since, entertained totally different opinions and supported 
totally op])Osite measures as to the questions and issues of those 
times, and whereas it is reasonable to assume that these same 
men still entertain, to a large extent, their several opinions, 
and would, if in like circumstances, support again substantially 
the same measures ; and whereas a rational toleration among 
men resolved to unite in a present common purpose, does not 
require a surrender in any particular of former opinions, or 
any acknowledgment of error as to measures heretofore sup- 
ported : 

"Resolved, By the Democracy of Montgomery County, 

"1. That agreeing to disagree in all respects as to the past, 
we cordially unite upon the living issues of the day, and 
hereby invite all men of the Eepublican party who believe 
now upon present issues as we believe, to co-operate fully and 
actively with us upon the basis of perfect equality with every 
member of the Democratic party. 

" 2. That waiving all differences of opinion as to the ex- 
traordinary means by which they were brought about, wc 
accept the natural and legitimate results of the war so far as 
waged for its ostensible purpose to maintain the Union and the 
Constitutional rights and powers of the Federal Government, 
including the three several amendments de facto to the Con- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 439 

stitution recently declared adopted, as a settlement in fact of 
all the issues of the war, and acquiesce in the same as no longer 
issues before the country. 

" 3. That thus burying out of sight all that is of the dead 
past, namely, the right of secession, slavery, inequality before 
the law, and political inequality; and further, now that recon- 
struction is complete, and representation within the Union re- 
stored to all the States, waiving all question as to the means by 
which it was accomplished, we demand that the vital and long 
established rule of Strict Coxstructiox, as proclaimed by the 
Democratic fathers, accepted by the statesmen of all parties 
previous to the war, and embodied in the Tenth Amendment 
to the Constitution, be vigorously applied now to the Constitu- 
tion as it is, including the three recent amendments above re- 
ferred to, and insist that these amendments shall not be held 
to have in any respect altered or modified the original theory 
and character of the Federal Government as designed and 
taught by its founders, and repeatedly in early times, in later 
times, and at all times, affirmed by the Supreme Court of the 
United States ; but only to have enlarged the powers delegated 
to it, and to that extent, and no more, to have abridged the re- 
served rights of the States ; and that as thus construed accord- 
ing to these ancient and mtII established rides, the Democratic 
party pledges itself to the full, faithful, and absolute execution 
and enforcement of the Constitution as it now is, so as to 
secure equal rights to all persons under it, without distinction 
of race, color, or condition. 

" 4. That the absolute equality of each and every State, within 
the Union, is a fundamental principle of the Federal Govern- 
ment, and that no department of that Government has power to 
expel a State from the Union, or to deprive it, under any 2:>retcxt 
whatever, of its equal rights therein, including especially the 
right of full and complete representation in Congress and in 
the Electoral colleges. 

" 5. That we will always cherish and uphold the American 
system of State and Local Self-Govcrnment, for State and 
local purposes, and a General Government for general purposes 
only ; and are unalterably opposed to all attempts at centrali- 
sation and consolidation of power in the hands of the General 
Government; and the more especially when such attempts arc 
in the form of usurpation by any department of that Govern- 



440 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

ment. And further, that we adhere firmly to the principle of 
maintaining a perfect independence between the co-ordinate 
departments of that Government, the Legislative, the Execu- 
tive, and the Judicial ; condemning all encroaclunents by one 
upon the functions of the others. 

" 6. That outside of fundamental law, all legislation is in 
its nature and purposes temporary, and subject to change, mod- 
ification, or repeal at the will of a majority of the people, ex- 
pressed through the law-making power ; and that the pretence 
that any Act of Congress, not executed and spent, or any legis- 
lative policy of a party, is an absolute finality, is totally incon- 
sistent with the whole theory of republican government ; and 
that it is the unquestionable right of the people of themselves 
and through their representatives, at each successive election, 
and in each successive Congress, to judge of Avhat legislation is 
necessary and proper or appropriate to carry into execution or 
enforce the constitutional powers, rights, and duties of the 
Federal Government. 

" 7. That as an instance of eminently appropriate legislation 
under the Fourteenth Amendment, in the name of wisdom, 
justice and republican government, and to secure universal po- 
litical rights and equality among both the white and the colored 
people of the United States, to the end that we may have peace 
at last, we call now, as well on behalf of the jSTorth as of the 
South, upon Congress for a universal amnesty. 

" 8. That we are in favor of the payment of the public debt 
at the earliest practicable moment consistent with moderate 
taxation; and the more effectually to secure and hasten the pay- 
ment, we demand the strictest honesty and economy in every 
part of the administration of the Government. 

" 9. That we are in favor of such revenue reform as will 
greatly simplify the manner of and reduce the number of of- 
ficers cnsraared in collecting and disbursing revenue, and largely 
diminish the now enormous expense to the Government and 
annoyance and vexation to the people attending the same ; and 
further, will make the burdens of taxation equal, uniform, and 
just, and no greater than the necessities of the Government 
economically administered shall require. 

" 10. That we are in fiivor of a searching and adequate re- 
form in the civil service of the Government so as to secure 
faithfulness, honesty and efficiency in all its branches, and in 
every officer and appointee connected with it. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 441 

"11. That wo are in favor of a strictly revenue tariff con- 
formed to the theory and principles of all other just and wise 
tax laws. 

" 12. That all taxation ought to be based on wealth instead 
of jjopulation ; and that every j^erson should be required to 
contribute to the suj^port of the Government in proportion to 
the amount and not with reference to the character of his 
property. 

" 13. That specie is the basis of all sound currency, and that 
true policy requires as speedy a return to that basis as is prac- 
ticable without distress to the debtor-class of the jjcople. 

" 14. That there is no necessary or irrepressible conflict 
between labor and capital ; that without capital or consolidated 
Avealth no country can flourish ; that capital is entitled to the 
just and equal protection of the laws, and that all men, whether 
acting individually or in a corporate capacity, have the right by 
fair and honest means, and not for the purposes of wrong or 
oppression, to so use their property as to increase and consoli- 
date it to the utmost extent within their power. But conceding 
all this, we declare our cordial sympathy and co-operation with 
the producers and working men of the country who make and 
move all capital, and who only seek by just and necessary 
means to protect themselves against the oppressive exactions of 
capital, and to ameliorate their condition and dignify their 
calling. 

" 15. That w^e are totally and resolutely opposed to the 
grant of any more of the public lands, the common property 
of the people of the States, to corporations for railroad or other 
purposes; holding that these lands ought to be devoted as 
homesteads to actual settlers, or sold in small quantities to in- 
dividuals at a price so low as to induce speedy occupation and 
settlement. 

"IG. That, holding still to the good old Democratic doc- 
trine of annexation or acquisition of territory, we are yet 
totally opposed to the scheme of President Grant to acquire 
San Domingo as a 'job,' and by the means and for the purposes 
evidently intended, and accept the issue he has tendered in his 
late message submitting the subject to the decision of the 
people. 

"17. That the Act commonly called the 'Bayonet Bill,' 
recently passed by Congress, amendatory to the Act of May 



442 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

ol, 1870, and a sujjplcment to the Act of July 14, 1870, each 
and all intended and so contrived as to interfere with and 
l^ractically subvert free popular elections in all the States, sub- 
jecting them to the absolute control, through the military 
power whenever called forth, of the President and Comman- 
der-in-chief for the time being of the land and naval forces of 
the United States; and the more recent Act of Congress 
commonly called the ' Ku-Klux Bill,' extending by its terms 
to every State, intermeddling Avith the exclusively local concerns 
of every State, authorising the President upon the existence of 
a condition of things to be ascertained and determined by him- 
self and in the exercise of his sole judgment, to suspend the 
writ of habeas corpus in time of peace, and to march the stand- 
ing army into any State and declare martial law therein at his 
own mere will and pleasure, thus subverting the entire civil 
power, legislative, executive, and judicial, of such State, destroy- 
ing freedom of speech and of the press and the peaceable assem- 
bling of the people, and subjecting every person therein to mil- 
itary arrest, trial and execution, were enacted for no other purpose 
than to complete the centralisation of all power in the hands of the 
General Government, establish a military despotism, and thus 
perpetuate the present Administration without regard to the 
will of the people, and arc not only utterly inconsistent with the 
whole theory and character of the Federal Government and revo- 
lutionary and dangerous in their nature, but in direct conflict 
with the spirit and letter of the Constitution, including the 
amendments which they pretend to enforce. 

" 18. That the Radical party of 1871 as now constituted is 
not the Republican party of the period previous to the war, 
nor the so-called ' Union party ' during the war, and is in no 
respect entitled to beg the public confidence as such ; that it is 
now only an ^Administration ' or ' Grant party,' dating back to 
March 4, 1869, and to be judged by its record since; and that 
upon that record, totally hostile to the doctrines and policies 
herein maintained, and wholly committed to the policies and 
doctrines herein denounced, it deserves the emphatic condem- 
nation of the peojDle." 

In reporting the resolutions from the committee, INIr. Val- 
landigham said : — 

"These resolutions, Mr. President, sufficiently cxi)lain 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAND'IGHAM. 443 

themselves. The principles and policies which they enunciate 
require the honest censure of those only whose hostility is 
sincere. Carping criticism we both exjject and contemn. 

"For more than two years past the bitter and bloody 
passions of the war have been gradually, but steadily and surely 
dying out. Continual and irreconcileable dissent upon the 
new issues necessarily born of to-day, and even bitter personal 
discord among men of the Re^^ublicau party who had stood 
together on the questions of the past, inevitably followed. The 
Democratic party wisely remained silent, or confined itself to 
these new issues. The Republican party having fulfilled its 
original mission, was rapidly falling into decay. Moderation, 
justice and peace were becoming to its more violent leaders the 
sentence of death ; the Administration party, into which since 
the 4th of March, 1869, it has been 'wholly transferred, had 
begun from causes thoroughly understood to be odious and 
even intolerable to the people. Upon the issues of amnesty ; 
of honesty in the legislative and executive departments; of the 
tariff; of revenue and civil service reform ; of land grants to 
corporations ; the currency ; taxation ; San Domingo, and other 
similar questions, it was certain to be condemned. Necessity 
required that some decisive movement should be made to avert 
impending defeat. Not the statesmen, but the mere politicians, 
the sycophants of the party, the parasites clinging to and deriv- 
ing nurture solely from Executive favor, were called into coun- 
cil. These Bourbons of the present hour, the men who forget 
nothing, learn nothing, resolved -upon one more appeal to the 
expiring passions and prejudices of their partisans — the war 
cries of the past. If civil war in fact could not again be inau- 
gurated, civil war in form, with all its legislative and executive 
machinery, and all its political appliances, must be revived in 
every State : to secure first, the re-nomination, and next, the 
re-election of General Grant. The belligerent pronunciamento 
went forth; the bloody blast of the war bugle was again 
sounded. A distinguished Senator, the confidential adviser 
and main support of the President, himself a consummate par- 
tisan leader, but powerful in proportion to the unskilfulness 
and cowardice of his foes, was put forth as the chief fomcntor 
of this new crusade. But I say to him and to all behind him, 
that the hour has now come wlien neither he nor tlicy can be 
permitted to provoke or to dictate issues for the Democratic 



444 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

party, or to ignore those which the revolving years and chang- 
ing condition of the country necessarily bring forth. That 
which since 1868 has been but a question of time, is now upon 
us. The auspicious moment, the golden opportunity, ' the tide 
in the affairs of men to be taken at the flood/ has now, in my 
deliberate judgment, reached us, when the Democratic party 
of to-day, laying aside every weight, and shaking from it the 
dead body of the past, yet adhering to its ancient principles, 
can and must at one bound place itself upon the vantage 
ground of the present, and defy its enemies to battle upon the 
living issues of the hour. It is the purpose of these resolutions 
to establish the Democratic j)arty of Montgomery County openly 
and squarely upon this firm and impregnable basis. Tacitly 
and in fact we have stood upon it for the past two years, and 
victory has steadily been ours. Confident I am that we shall 
meet a prompt and very cordial resj)onse from our brethren 
elsewhere and everywhere, in this and other States. Person- 
ally I care not for denunciation or unjust criticism from any 
c^uartcr. Upon fullest deliberation and ample counsel with 
wise and brave men of the party, I take the responsibility. 
With pride and pleasure I add, too, that as these resolutions arc 
the fruit of the joint labors and counsels of the gentlemen 
associated M'ith me here at home, so also this movement meets 
their hearty concurrence. It is not a Kcw Departure, but a 
Eeturn ; the restoration of the Democratic party once more to 
the ancient platform of Progress and Reform ; establishing the 
great fact that that party, like everything else in nature in- 
tended to endure, is capable of adapting itself to the perpetual 
growth and change which belong alike to the political and 
the physical world, and retain yet intact the original principles 
and laws of its being. Moreover, as to the movement here, wo 
all bear witness that in it there is nothing of a merely personal 
character, either to advance or to hinder any member of the 
Democratic party anywhere — nothing except the earnest and 
fixed purpose to promote the welfare of the whole party, and 
with it, of the Avhole country." 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the Con- 
vention adjourned. 

Such was the inauguration of the NewDeparture."^ The 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 445 

resolutions together with the speeches of Mr. Houk, the 
President of the meeting, and Mr. Vallandigham, the chair- 
man of the Committee, sufficiently indicate the spirit and the 
purpose of the movement. In further explanation we give 
the following editorial from the Dayton Ledger. Commenting 
on the action of the Convention, the editor says : — 

" As a part of the history of these resolutions, we consider 
it necessary to state that they were drafted by IMr. Vallandig- 
ham, after much deliberation, and a full and free consultation 
with leading Democrats, both here and in other quarters of the 
State. Their reception, both in the committee room and the 
Convention, was unanimous and enthusiastic, scarcely a verbal 
alteration even being made after the fullest discussion and 
most acute criticism. Such a fact alone is deeply significant, 
for it sliows the tendency of the minds of men to harmonise 
and concentrate upon the real living issues, and how truthfully 
Mr. Vallandigham has embodied and expressed in the resolu- 
tions the sentiments which have hitherto being gathering force 
among men of all parties, viz : that the Republican party 
having accomplished its mission, is now a failure in govern- 
ment, and that something must be conceded by the Democratic 
party to its dissatisfied elements in order to secure their co- 
operation in restoring the country to real peace and j^rosperity. 
We repeat that such an act of magnanimity was worthy of the 
traditions and history of the Democratic party, and from no 
man could the movement more appropriately emanate than 
from Mr. Vallandigham, whose devotion to the organization 
and to the interests of the country through it has been attested 
by a thousand sacrifices." 

This ncM^ movement was cordially and enthusiastically 
endorsed by many leading Democratic papers in all parts of 
the Union. The State Convention of Ohio which met on the 
first of June, adopted substantially the Dayton resolutions. 
The same was the case with conventions in several other States. 
With the conservative press, and with conservative men who 



446 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

liad for years acted Avith tlic Republican party, the movement 
met with much favor. Two days after the Montgomery County 
meeting, Chief-Justice Chase wrote the following letter to Mr. 
Vallandigham : — 

" Washington, D. C, Mctxj 20. 
"J/y Dear Sir: — I have just read the resolutions of the 
Montgomery County (Ohio) Democratic Convention, reported 
by yourself, together with your remarks and those of Mr. 
Houk. You have rendered great service to your country and 
the i)arty; at least, such is my judgment. May God bless you 
for it. Nothing can be truer than your declaration that the 
movement contemplated by the resolutions is the restoration 
of the Democratic jiarty to its ancient platform of progress 
and reform. I know you too well to doubt your courage or 
your fidelity to your conclusions. 

" Very truly yours, 

'•'S. P. Chase. 

"Hon. C. L. Vallandigham." 

The following extracts show the manner in which the move- 
ment was received by the Conservative and some of the Demo- 
cratic press : — 

From the New York Sun (Independent Republican), 20tli: — 

" The hour has struck, and the man has arrived. JSIr. 
Clement L. Vallandigham has sounded a trumpet that will 
reverberate through the land. . . . 

" j\Ir. Vallandigham is a progressive statesman and a wary 
politician. He has just exemplified both these qualities by 
constructing a j^latform for the Democracy which is precisely 
adapted to the new epoch. Without raising controversies about 
how we got into the war or how we got out of it, he accepts 
its results as fixed facts, and does not look backward, but turns 
his eye toward the future. Not stopping to criticise the wis- 
dom of every phase of the reconstruction measures, or quibble 
over the mode whereby the three amendments were engrafted 
upon the Constitution, he takes them as valid portions of that 
instrument, and treats them as a final and irrevocable settlement 
of the matters to which they relate. He then falls back upon 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 447 

the Constitution as it is, and insists that it shall be accepted in 
its entirety, including all its modern improvements, and shall 
hereafter be construed and enforced according to the funda- 
mental doctrines enunciated by such eminent exponents of the 
Democratic creed as Jefferson, Jackson, Benton, and AV right, 
who would maintain all the powers of the National Govern- 
ment without impairing the rights of the several States. 

" Having thus disi^osed of constitutional questions, Mr. 
Vallandigham foreshadows a comprehensive policy in respect 
to the living issues of the day, such as general amnesty, tax- 
ation, the tariff, retrenchment, civil service reform, San Do- 
mingo annexation, Ku-Klux legislation, and the like, hitting 
a happy medium between the extremes on all these vexed mat- 
ters; and he winds up by inviting the people of all parties, 
localities, colors, and creeds to come upon his platform as 
equals, and to rally around the banner of the Union and help 
to fight the great battles of the future. This programme and 
the speech in which he explained and defended it, and the 
unanimity with which it was ratified by the assembled Demo- 
cracy of Montgomery, place Mr. Vallandigham among the most 
conspicuous political leaders of the day." 

From the New York Herald, 21st : — 

" Vallandigham is the Phil Sheridan of his party, and has 
sent the old Democratic leaders whirling in every direction. 
His platform, enunciated at the Dayton Convention, meets with 
general favor, despite the ojiposition of the timid, badly scared 
Bourbons. The executive committee of Hamilton County, 
Ohio, yesterday unanimously and cordially endorsed Vallan- 
digham's views, and they will also be readily adopted by the 
party throughout the State." 

From the Philadelphia Evening Herald: — 

" The Ohio Democracy in State Convention assembled, with 
Hon. Geo. H. Pendleton as chairman, yesterday fully endorsed 
the Vallandigham resolutions, and thus laid another stone on 
the broad foundation upon Avhich the structure of coming Dem- 
ocratic success is to be built. The work goes bravely on; and 
we may confidently expect that in a little while the Democrats 



448 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

in every State in the Union, forgetting past diflferences, will 
place themselves fairly and squarely upon the same strong 
platform." 

From the Louisville Courier- Journal : — 

" In spite of all that has been said against the platform pro- 
posed hy Mr. Yallandigham, it was adopted. Ohio places 
herself alongside of Pennsylvania ; other States will follow, 
and long before the campaign of next year the anti-Radical 
column will be united on a broad and sound basis of rational 
Democracy. It will be quite idle for malcontents and imprac- 
ticables to read the Democracy of the entire country out of the 
Democratic party. That won't go, and, besides, there are too 
many of them to make a departure in that direction a desirable 
object. Indiana has already expressed with sufficient emphasis. 
Nothing can now stay the tide of conservatism, and which will 
be ample enough and generous enough to embrace all the liberal 
elements of the North and South. Ohio has done admirably. 
All honor to Clement L. Yallandigham." 

From the Cleveland Plaindealcr : — 

" The Republican newspapers of Ohio are most tlioroughly 
dissatisfied with the Democratic platform. "While it makes no 
apology for the position the Democratic party has held in the 
past, it recognises the situation, accepts facts that are accom- 
plished, refuses to play heads and tails on the grave of issues 
that were live ones only in '62, '63, '64 and '65 ; it refuses to 
\i allow the Republican party to put a ring-fence around us and 
keep us dancing to the same old tunes and rattling the same 
old bones. The vital principle of progress has been resurrected 
in our organization, and, having outflanked its enemies by 
marching past the pits they had spread for it, it has opened its 
guns from an advanced position, and pierced the enemy's 
centre. Inspired with renewed hope, and strengthened as it 
will be by many thousands who, in the past, have deserted us, 
the onward march of the Democracy will be irresistible." 

But although this movement was received with favor in all 
parts of the country, and was hailed as the harbinger of better 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 449 

days, it also encountered a violent opposition. Many Demo- 
crats regarded it as a surrender of principle. Not so was it 
considered by Mr. Vallandigham and those who acted with 
him. They adhered as strictly as ever to all the great prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party which they had always professed 
and maintained. They believed, just as every intelligent man 
in the country believes, that the amendments to the Constitu- 
tion in question were secured by force and fraud ; that the 
people of the Southern States if left to themselves, allowed 
to act freely, to vote as they pleased, would never have con- 
sented to their' adoption. But these amendments had been 
proclaimed by those in authority, parts of the Constitution ; 
they had gone into operation, had been acquiesced in; op- 
position to them on the part of the Democracy, contention 
about them, would be vain and useless : why then waste time 
and strength in a fruitless enterprise ? Such were the views of 
the men who inaugurated the New Departure : they wished to 
bury the dead issues of the past, and fight on the living issues 
of the present. This they considered their only hope of success 
in the approaching campaign of 1872. 

There were some who were inclined to impugn the motives 
of Mr. Vallandigham in this matter; but for this there was 
no just ground. By what selfish motive could he have been 
actuated? He was not seeking popularity: this he never aimed 
at in his life ; and besides, he knew that by this movement he 
would lose as many friends as he would gain. He knew that 
it would be violently Of)poscd, and was girding on his armor 
for a bold and determined conflict. Nor was he influenced by 
a desire to advance the claims or the interests of one set of 
politicians in opposition to those of another ; this he distinctly 
29 



450 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

disavowed. In this whole matter we arc satisfied that his 
motives were pure and unselfish. He was actuated by an 
earnest desire to secure the success of the Democratic party, 
and through it to advance the best interests of the country. 
And whatever may be the ultimate eifect of this New De- 
parture, which time has yet to determine, it is certain that he 
indulged the most sanguine expectations of a highly favor- 
able result. This is evident from the following extracts from 
the last political speech he ever made, delivered on the night of 
the 1st of June 1871, past the midnight hour, at the close of 
the State Convention that had on that day adopted, at least 
substantially, the resolutions that he had drafted and presented 
at the Dayton meeting : — 

"To-day we have achieved a glorious triumph; to-day 
we have sent forth tidings of great joy all over the land. The 
Democratic party stands now upon the vantage ground of the 
present and offers battle to its enemies ; and hand to hand and 
shoulder to shoulder, marches forth and meets them in this 
struggle upon the living issues of the present hour [cheers] ; 
and upon these issues we will triumph. Throughout the 
entire State of Ohio will oome a response, and not from Ohio 
only, but from other States, from one end of the country to 
the other, full of joy and rejoicing, to-morrow, from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific, from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, 
that at last the Democratic party is ready to grapple with 
its foes and to crush them, as in former times it did; and that 
once more there is hope that this old, battle-worn Kepublic 
of ours, bearing, it may be, the scars which it has received 
in the recent grand convulsion, will yet live, and live in the 
spirit in which the fathers framed it. [Applause.] .... 

" I rejoice that the veterans of the party, the ' subterraneans ' 
of the oiden time, arc here in such great numbers, and with 
hearts resolved to conquer. For years we have fought the 
enemy from behind the now battered and crumbling earth- 
works of former issues, surrounded and hampered by the rub- 
bish and the skeleton corpses of the dead past. For one, I am 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 451 

wearied of sucli fighting. Give us now and henceforth the 
clear, open field, where fiice to face and hand to hand, and 
with banners inscribed ' Progress and Reform,' we may give 
battle to the enemies of Democratic- Republican Government. 
I rejoice still more, Mr. President, to see here among us tlie 
advancing hosts of the Young Democracy, with hearts full 
of fire and hands full of strength, and hopes buoyant with liic 
and light as they look forward to the future. They arc 
resolved to live and move in the present. It is a wise saying : 
Old men for counsel — provided they be not old fogies 
[a laugh] — young men for action. The young men of the 
party will win for us the victory." 

Mr. Vallandigham closed as follows : — 

" That grand system of government under which it is my 
firm belief that we can unite the whole continent of I^orth 
America, yea, and the whole world ; tliat system which was 
organised in 1789, is, in its original conception and its original 
practice, sufficient for the entire globe, and now that we have 
railroads and telegraphs, means of communication that did not 
exist in former times, that system can prevail over the world, 
under the principles of the Democratic party, which is an es- 
sential offshoot of that form of government, and Avhich, born 
with it, can only die with it. 

"And, in my deliberate judgment, if we can but sustain 
these institutions of ours, if in S])ite of these amendments, 
which in the language of your platform delegate only so much 
more power to the Federal Government, and only to that ex- 
tent abridge the reserved rights of the States, and do not in 
any respect alter or modify the original character and theory of 
the Federal Government, w^e can restore again tlie doctrines and 
rules of construction and the practices of the fathers with equal 
rights made secure to all, the youngest man in this assembly, 
nay, the infant born to-day, who shall live beyond his three- 
score and ten, even by reason of strength to four-score, will 
see this grand Old Republic of ours overspread the whole of 
this mighty continent, and that flag of ours which we do love 
and cherish, afloat in every breeze and triumphant upon every 
sea. [Loud applause.] " 



CHAPTER XIX. 

HABITS OF STUDY AND MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 

From his earliest years Mr. Vallandigham was a close and 
diligent student. When only fifteen or sixteen years of age, as 
we have already stated, he was accustomed frequently to spend 
ten or twelve hours a day in study, and this too when he 
was not at school or under any compulsion to study at alL At 
that same period he was accustomed to shut himself up in his 
room, and in a rather low voice, so as not to disturb the family 
or attract attention, to declaim or to deliver extemporaneous 
harangues, in order to acquire readiness and fluency in speak- 
ing. A similar course he jiursued when at college, as we learn 
from his friend and companion, the Hon. Sherrard Clemens. 
Mr. Clemens says : — 

" His .studies were varied, extensive, and exhaustive. Mil- 
ton's Paradise Lost and Burke's speeches and works seem to 
have been his great favorites. He adopted a severe course of 
intellectual training, read much aloud, and was in the habit, 
after reading the speeches of some celebrated orator, to seek 
some secluded place and declaim them over in his own language, 
after having the subject-matter fully fixed in his mind. He 
was in the habit of doing a similar thing after reading some 
favorite author, as, for instance. Gibbon's History of Home, to 
reduce the thoughts to his own language. By this mode of 
severe mental gymnastics, he attained very great flicility both 
m speaking and writing. As a speaker he was graceful, fluent, 
forcible and impulsive, rising oftentimes to first-class oratory : 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDiaHAM. 453 

as a writer he exhibited many of the same characteristics. At 
college the Bible was his great stand-by. Every Sunday was 
devoted to a critical examination of it. He seemed to be never 
•weary of pointing out the beauties of Proverbs, the Book of 
Job, Isaiah, the Song of Solomon, Jeremiah, and the Psalms 
of David. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, he contended, combined 
more worldly wisdom than could be found anywhere else, and 
if a father could only induce his child to act upon them, he 
would secure him a more precious legacy than he could in any 
other way. He contrasted them with Lord Chesterfield's 
letters to his son and the maxims of the Duke de la Roche- 
foucauld, and shoAved how inferior they (the latter) were in 
interest, beauty and practical efficacy." 

Mr. Clemens proceeds to quote a great number of passages 
which were particular favorites of Mr. Vallandigham, and 
which he was accustomed very frequently to rej)eat. Among 
them are the following : " Let thine eyes look right on, and let 
thine eyelids look straight before thee." " He becometh poor 
that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent 
maketh rich." " The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and 
a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy." "A soft answer 
turneth away wrath." " He that is slow to anger is better than 
the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a 
city." " If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is 
small." "A just man falleth seven times and riseth up again." 
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and 
loving favor rather than silver and gold." The description of 
a virtuous woman from the last chapter of Proverbs was often 
repeated, as was also the description of the vanity of human 
pursuits in the second cliapter of Ecclesiastes. Mr. Clemens 
further says : — 

" In our Avalks around tlie woods of Canonsburg, we would 
read or declaim to each other from Shakspeare, Milton, Byron's 



454 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Cain and 3Ianfred, Burke, Erskine, or other favorite authors, 
Antony's speech over the dead body of Csesar, the quarrel 
between Brutus and Cassius, Queen Catharine's speech on her 
trial, including the celebrated passage, * Here sits a judge whom 
no king can corrupt/ Particular portions of Timon of Athens, 
fearful in their denunciatory power, he dwelt upon with great 
unction and the most exquisite delight. At this early period 
his mind had taken a decidedly political bias, and his extracts 
from Burke, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, Chatham, and other 
prominent orators, were often rendered with great effect. Of 
Americans, Calhoun stood first in his estimation, though his 
arguments were so logical he did not often recite them ; but 
passages from Webster he delighted in, and in point of intellect 
he was next to Calhoun." 

A. few extracts from some of his letters will exhibit his 
course of reading and study in later years. In a letter to his 
brother James, Feb. 14, 1849, he says: — 

" Since the Presidential election I have been studying and 
reading closely. I have been reviewing the elementary works 
on law, reading the classics, and particularly refreshing my 
knowledge of Greek, which has always been imperfect. I be- 
gan with the grammar and am going through the course; but 
my main object is to be able to read Demosthenes readily in the 
original: the translations I devoured long since. Besides 
this, my miscellaneous reading (including the literary and law 
periodicals and reviews) has been not a little. I took also 
a pretty deep dij) into old Chaucer, and found ' somethink ' very 
new and interesting in his antique and crooked-looking poetry. 
So you see I have been ' redeeming the time,' in a secular way 
at least. But I am also still, as ever, a close student of the 
Bible ; without an intimate and constant study of which no 
man's education can be finished and no man's character can be 
complete." 

To the same, July 19, 1851 :— 

" Among the books which I have read during the spring 
and winter, have been three of especial interest — The Life ol 
Dr. Chalmers, Sydney Smith's Sketches of Moral Philosophy, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 455 

and Garland's Life of John Randolph — especially the second 
volume. I never appreciated Chalmers before at his true 
value: he was a wonderful man — I think the greatest pulpit 
orator and the greatest man of his calling since Paul: in an 
age of great men, he was among the very greatest." 

To the same, December 6, 1855 : — 

" I have here that great desideratum, a study, very neat 
and cosy, and full of all my usual ' contraptions.' Here I spend 
my evenings. It is my chapel too. The day-time is devoted 
to the office and court. I spend from fifty to a hundred 
dollars a year for books — ' books that are books.' My taste 
and course of study you may infer from a catalogue of the 
books in my library here at the house. I have many at the 
office also, professional and miscellaneous." 

Here follows a long list, filling a whole sheet, of choice 
books ; at the close of which he says : " These are all (or nearly 
all) good library editions — good paper and type, and well 
bound. I buy no fine-print books, and none of only casual or 
temporary value." 

To xhe same he writes, April 16, 1856, a letter in which he 
speaks of himself and his affairs — Politically, Profession- 
ally, Domestically, Personally, and Theologically. Under 
the Theological head he says: — 

" Besides the continual s^udy of the Bible, I am now read- 
ing Moshsim's Church History, Milton's Theological Treatise, 
and Barrav's Sermons. These last I think are the finest and 
most valuable every way in our language. Dealing little in 
the metaphysics or mystics of theology, Barrow treats of 
religion not as a head for disputation, a subject for tortuous 
and torturbg disquisition and dissection, but as a thing to be 
lived out in our daily walk and conversation — something real, 
palpable, and for use. This is what he wants whose earnest 
desire, as mine, is to ' live soberly, righteously, and godly in this 
present world, redeeming the time, diligent in business, fervent 



456 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

in spirit, serving the Lord, and so using the things of the 
world as not abusing them, remembering that the fasliion 
thereof passeth away.' " 

It will be seen that Mr. Yallandigham read and studied not 
only law and the classics and history, but also theology. He 
supplied himself with an excellent system of theology, one 
of the best published, and carefully studied it ; and his know- 
ledge of theology as well as of Church History was superior 
to that of many a minister of the Gospel. 

The following is an extract from a letter in the Cincinnati 
Commercial, " written," says the editor, " by an intimate friend" 
of Mr. Yallandigham : — 

" I came to Dayton to study law with Mr. Yallandigham 
in the beginning of 1851, and lived in his house from that 
time almost continuously until 1860. I was his jjartner from 
November 1854, until he withdrew from practice, about 1859. 
I can speak more certainly as to this period of time than any 
other. 

"Being myself a graduate of the Jesuits, with whom hard 
study is atways the order of the day, I was qualified ti judge 
of Mr. Yallandigham's application. I have no hesitction in 
saying that I never knew a person whose study was more 
systematic, unremitting and enduring. At times it wa? painful 
to me. I often thought to myself, ' Is this the life cf a man 
who seeks reputation ? If so, is the game worth the candle? ' 
He studied Sundays as well as week days, but his Sunday 
reading was Jeremy Taylor, Chalmers, Mosheim, Lowth, the 
Bible, Barrow, Cicero's Offices, &c. He was not an ^arly riser 
in my day, but he worked hard at night. His chief study was 
statesmanship ; everything tended to his improvcmeit in that 
direction. This involved the close study of languige and of 
the graces of oratory. The first book he put into my hands 
was Bronson's Elocution. In e'arly days he practised from it 
frequently, hence his distinct enunciation. But laiguage he 
deemed the weapon of the orator, and he understood the shades 
of meaning: of words verv well. , 



I.IFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 457 

" His library is not large. His means, in a great portion 
of liis life, were limited ; his political contests involved the 
neglect of his practice. But his library is very select. Burke, 
I think, was his favorite author. I do not believe there is a 
book in his library that is not marked (on the margins) from 
one end to the other — many of them being re-read frequently. 

" He was not much of a novel-reader, beyond the select 
authors. He knew the Waverley novels by heart, and took 
great pleasure in some of Cooper's. But he read too slowly to 
be able to read many. I think he would be two months at 
one book ; I would finish the same book in a day. 

" He was not, I think, in the last few years as close or 
constant a reader or student as he had been. It would have 
been strange if he had been. It was not necessary ; his mind 
was already stored. 

''His tavorite reading was history and biography. He 
loved to read how other men climbed the ladder he was on. 
Plutarch's Lives was another great book with him, and Livy he 
prized beyond measure. He called his books 'his brave 
utensils,' as Caliban says Prospero called his. I have often 
seen him stand before his library and strike his hands together 
with an expression of delight in his countenance as he would 
exclaim, ' My brave utensils ! ' I think he knew Shakspeare 
and JNIilton almost by heart. He did not think much of the 
poets beyond Burns, Byron, and the two I have mentioned. 
You may depend upononc thing — when he thought an author 
worth reading, he deemed him worthy of stud)/. He very 
rarely read a book ; he always studied it. He knew little of 
astronomy or the natural sciences. I do not think he had a 
legal mind as men like Taney, Thurman, or his partner 
Haynes ; if he had, it was obscured by his political contests. 
But when he entered upon the practice he threw his whole 
soul into it, and hunted down the precedents — too numerously. 
I remember of arguing against him an important case before 
Judge Haynes, his present partner, then Judge, in which he 
2nade a captivating speech, the Judge remarking as he came 
down from the bench, ' What a fine effort ! but he sailed above 
the questions.^ I think that if he had confined himself to the 
bar he would have made a very great lawyer. But he reo-arded 
the law as his auxiliary. He often said that the wear and tear 
of court were too much for him; he would get fat in a polit- 



458 LIFE OF CLEMENT L, VALLANDIGHAM. 

leal campaign, and lose hi.s flesh in the confined struggle at the 
bar. The secret of this was to be found in his will. He dis- 
liked contradiction, defeat or opposition ; and at the bar a man 
must meet with them all. He cannot choose his causes nor 
command his victories ; a pigmy may overthrow him with an 
overlooked precedent. 

" He was very fond of reading aloud, and was an excellent 
reader. He was a good Latin scholar, reading Horace, Cicero, 
and Quintiliau frequently in the original." 

Although Mr. Vallandigham cultivated his talent for 
extemporaneous speaking more diligently than his talent for 
A\Titing, yet he was a fine Avriter. His letters to his friends, 
even business letters, are often adorned with gems of thought 
beautifully expressed, as well as with apt quotations from dis- 
tinguished authors, with which his memory was richly stored. 
In a business letter to his brother James, dated Washington, 
D. C, June 2, 1860, th» following sentences occur: — 

" I am younger and brighter now indeed for the most part 
— happier sometimes, genial and gushing yet; though now 
and then sad memories fall upon my soul as evening gathers 
its twilight shades around me, and I listen mournfully to the 
faint and yet fliintcr echoes of the footsteps of departed friends 
and friendships, as they linger still in memory among the ivy- 
grown columns and corridors of the former time. But ' look 
not mournfully into the past ; it comes not back again. Wisely 
improve the present ; it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy 
future without fear and with a manly heart.' But it is past 
eleven o'clock, and I see the flags streaming from the Capitol, 
and am recalled to the duties and business of the day." 

The following letter of Mr. Vallandigham to his wife in 
relation to the training of their son we here give, although the 
trainino; referred to is moral rather than mental. Still the 
letter is so valuable that nvc think it ought to be published ; 
and its insertion in this chapter Avould probably be as aj^pro- 
priate as in any other : — 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 459 

" \7ashixgtox, D. C, May 18, 1862. 

"... I write -with the picture of my dear darling little 
man before me. Although not very good, I look at it many 
times a day. It reminds me deeply of him, and is thought by 
others to represent a very sweet little boy. ' Oh that those 
lips had language ! ' I talk to the picture just as I do to my 
boy himself, and it looks as if it would speak, yet speaks not ; 
yet memory supplies a world of what he has said to me. 

" Dear little fellow ! Happy boy ! May ho be a virtuous 
youth and a noble man. He will be, he cannot but be ambi- 
tious: let it be the ambition of 'noble ends by noble means': 
virtue, honor, principle, let these be his watchwords; and in 
simplicity and sincerity, without hypocrisy or fanaticism, let 
him worship the God of his fathers, the Universal God, the 
Almighty Maker of heaven and earth. 

" Three qualities are essential, and they cannot be acquired 
too soon : firmness, self-reliance, and self-denial. Let him be 
a boy, a youth, a young man, and enjoy in moderation what- 
ever belongs to each of these successive periods of life; but let 
all be made subservient to health and strength j)hysically, and 
to the development of gradual, not precocious, maturity of the 
moral and intellectual faculties, postponing the stronger pleas- 
ures and indulgences of sense, so far as lawful, till the body 
and mind and will are fully strengthened; the sound mind 
and sound body will then as keenly and much more wisely 
appreciate them at forty as the most reckless youth of twenty. 

"Let him be noble, and generous, and brave, and frank, and 
true. Let him shun vice, and scorn meanness. Let him cul- 
tivate — I know he has it naturally also — delicacy and purity. 
I would have no profane or foul word uttered in his presence, 
even as to things lawful and necessary; and no doubtful allu- 
sion before him. Juvenal was rifrht — 

^ yu dictufoedum visuque 7iac limina tangat 
Intra qua puer est.' 

"Alas, alas, what a world of temptation he will have to 
encounter ! Let him learn to be firm ; let him k'arn to say 
no to tempters without, and to the tempter within. It is a 
hard lesson, but the sooner it is learned the better. I would 
have him pious. I like that word ; it is a better and broader 
word than religious, and it implies more steadfastness and uni- 
formity. Especially let him have faith — faith in God, and 



460 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

man, and woman. Let him have it, and cultivate and encour- 
ao-e it while young: alas! he will learn to doubt the world at 
least soon enough. But faith will remove mountains : it will 
sustain him when all else fails, even when sight^ is not only 
wanting, but when it seems actually opposed to faith. I have 
tried it as in the fiery furnace, and when millions fell away I 
faltered not. Paul's magnificent chapter on faith is all true, 
whether applied to religion or to things of this life. 

" But I am writing a treatise, when I sat down to write a 
letter. Take care of our dear precious little boy, and teach 
him all these things. Some of them he may not be able_ to 
comprehend till he is older ; but preserve this letter for him. 

" One thing I forgot, though indeed it is implied in what I 
have written : let him be full oi courage, calm, quiet, unflinch- 
ing courage, physical and moral, afraid of nothing except to 
do wrong. And to this I would have him add fortitude, the 
virtue of endurance. To do and to suffer — these make up 
much of the great business of life. 

" Precious boy ! May God preserve thy life and make thee 
good and great ! And if all this, then he must have and will 
have that noble but very rare virtue of true amor paf/'ice, 
love of country. 

"As to books, he is too young yet to require any suggestions 
in regard to them. But let him read the Bible diligently from 
his boyhood up." 

Mr. Vallandigham was a fine reader, was fond of reading 
aloud, and often thus read for the instruction and entertain- 
ment of his family. But although he was a constant 
reader of books and a close student, he was also an acute 
observer of men and things around him. He studied the 
public men with whom he mingled, acquired an accurate 
knowledge of their character, and of this knowledge his friends 
sometimes availed themselves for their own guidance and 
direction, as the following incident will illustrate. Col. Keys 
of Cincinnati, who was on General McClellan's staff, was 
always a warm friend of Mr. Vallandigham, and had the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 461 

greatest confidence in his judgment and admiration of his 
abilities. Just before Hon. E, M. Stanton was appointed 
Secretary of War, Col. Keys had a long conversation with Mr. 
Vallandigham in regard to the public men of the United 
States. Mr. Vallandigham had in his earliest days been a 
strong and intimate friend of Stanton, and in the course of this 
conversation he expressed in the highest terms his admiration 
of the great power of intellect, untiring energy, and the firm- 
ness and industry of that gentleman. Just after speaking of 
this, the Colonel abruptly broke oif the conversation and left 
the room. Mr. Vallandigham never understood the signifi- 
cance of this intervew until many years afterwards. General 
McClcllan had been given the choice of the new Secretary of 
War in the place of Cameron, who was about to be removed ; 
he had referred the matter to Colonel Keys, and the latter had 
brought up this conversation with Mr. Vallandigham to learn 
his views of the character of the " men of the time." The 
Colonel had never thought of Stanton, but he was so impressed 
by what Mr. Vallandigham said of the man that he imme- 
diately suggested the name to General McClellan. The 
General was impressed with what Keys said of Stanton, and 
by what he discovered upon inquiry as to the determination 
and untiring energy which were Stanton's great characteristics. 
He proposed his i^ame to President Lincoln, who immediately 
appointed him. And thus indirectly, and unconsciously as far 
as he was concerned, Mr. Vallandigham, the great advocate of 
peace, ami the leader of the peace Democracy, was instrumental 
in putting into place and power the man who more than any 
other contributed to the success of the Federal arms and to the 
final triumph of the war party of the North. What a com- 



462 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

mentary is here furnished upon the utter inability of even the 
greatest genius to comprehend the eiFect, in the future, of the 
most trivial act or remark, or to understand what will be the 
result, extending to all the coming years, of the most private 
or thoughtless conversation ! 

The above incident together with others connected with the 
secret history of the war, Mr. Vallandigham was, just before 
his death, preparing to furnish to the Galaxy magazine for 
publication. Had he lived it is probable that he would have 
devoted considerable time and attention to literary pursuits. 
He had in contemplation several literary enterprises, among 
them a history of the late Civil War, for the preparation of 
which he had already collected some material when his active 
career Avas suddenly cut short by his sad and tragical death. 



CHAPTER XX. 

SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC CHAEACTER. 

Clement L. Vallandigham was a man of iron will, of 
unflinching courage, of indomitable energy, and of untiring 
industry and perseverance : he possessed in a very high degree 
all those sterner qualities that command the respect and elicit 
the admiration of men. This is acknowledged alike by friend 
and foe. But he possessed also in the highest degree those 
gentler qualities that secure affection. Love of home and 
home-joys, attachment to his friends, affection for his relatives, 
rejoicing in their prosperity and sympathising with them in 
their sorrows — these were traits of character for which he was 
remarkably distinguished. His was as warm, as affectionate 
a heart as ever throbbed in human bosom. The evidence of 
this will be seen in the letters which follow, presented not in 
the order of date, but in the order best suited to illustrate the 
traits above referred to. 

The following letter is addressed to his eldest brother, the 
Rev. James L. Vallandigham. With this brother he studied 
Latin and Greek, and afterwards law, and on his admission to 
the bar became his partner, and continued such till the former 
left the profession of law and entered the ministry : — 

"Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1849. 
"Ji^ Dear Brother: — I have hesitated some minutes, pon- 
dering as to which of you I should address this letter, seeing 



464 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

that you (I mean sisters ^I. and R. and yourself) arc all to- 
gether. But I conclude to address it to you (although I am 
perhaps in debt to both of them, and you to me), since I can 
and mean to write an ' epistle general/ after the manner of 
Peter. R.'s most welcome letter is before me, and I write 
with an eve to it, hoping she will, in consideration of my much 

business, take this as an answer for the present I need 

not sav how greatly pleased I should be to see you all again. 
Indeed I begin to feel almost sad when I think how * tar and 
wide' we are all separated — we who gathered once, night and 
morn, around the same parental hearth. But ISIrs. Hemans 
has expressed my every feeling in poetical language and 
imaii:erv which I cannot command. Our father, dear father, is 
gone whence we cannot recall him. He walked with God, 
and is not, for God took him. But our mother yet lives, and 
we all arc still spared; and I hope that though scattered now, 
many happy re-unions yet await us around that same blessed 
flunily-hcarth whose fires have with so much rejoicing been 
again lighted up. 

" But you will no doubt be interested equally, if not more, 
in the news of the present as in recollections of the past or 
anticipations of the future. iS'ext to a visit, the most pleasur- 
able thing to me is a minute description and account of family 
matters and news. It brings you right home and sets you 
down in the midst of your friends. A\'ell, let me tell you how 
we are * getting along,' as the phrase goes. First, then, we 
live in a moderate-sized but very neat house, and very con- 
veniently arranged. It is on Second Street, west of the First 
Presbyterian Church, rather far down towards the river. We 
have a neat little yard and garden around it. Our bedroom is 
up stairs, betweeii two other rooms, M'ith a door opening upon 
an upper porch fronting the east. We have a nice little coal 
stove to sit by. During the day I am at the office, but spend 
every evening at home, unless we are both out visiting. ^^ e 
sit before our little open stove, one on each side of our table, 
Louisa sewing, and I studying or reading aloud. And thus 
the evenings pass, except that now and then a loud knock an- 
nounces that a friend is ready to drop in and sit awhile with 
us. AYe have been quite social this winter, going out or re- 
ceiving visits frequently. The young ladies and gentlemen 
often drop in and take tea with us, which, as we have a good 



LIFE OF CLEME^:T L. VALLA^'DIGHAM. 465 

market, and ' Sally ' is an excellent ' help,' gives as no trouble. 
80 separated as we are from all our relatives, . . we are mak- 
ing the time pass as pleasantly as possible." 

The following is an extract from a letter to Mrs. Mary E. 

Vallandigham, wife of his brother James. To this relative he 

was warmly attached. While living at Snow Hill, Marj-land, 

he became acquainted with her, and at " Salem," the hospitable 

residence of her iather on the edge of the village, he spent many 

a pleasant hour: — 

"Daytox, Ohio, :May 31, 1849. 

" Jiy Very Dear SiMer: — It has been so long since I heard 
from any of you that I begin to feel anxious to know what the 
news of your fireside is, and what events have transpired sine* 
brother James's last letter in Februari-. The fault indee<l of 
this long silence is mine, for I have not before found leisure to 
answer that full and most welc^jnie letter. In truth, I was 
hardly conscious that so long a time had passed since I received 
it. But, ah me ! dear sister, how swiftly fly the hours now ! 
I had occasion to-day to look over some of my Columbiana old 
law-papers, and the past few years st^xxl all before me in pleas- 
ing but melancholy array, yet all as though of yesterdav. A 
thousand things which I had forgotten rashed back in fresh 
recollection upon my mind — 

' The joys, the tears of Ion;; prvaed years, 
The words of love then spoken.' 

Let those laugh at the sentiment who never had a happy 
home ; but how dear to me are the hallowed recollections of 
the home of my childhood, boyhoofl and youth ! Poor Lisbon ! 
she is not what she has been. Dilapidation, decay and deaih 
seem to have marked her for their own. Yet, though I could 
not by any meaas Ije prevailed on to exchange for her this the 
most l:>eautiful and charming place in all the "West, I love her 
still — I love her for the past, for the multiplied associations 
connec-te<l with her. iJld Ave not spend some sunnv hours 
there ! But we are all now separated far and wide, hearing no 
more the same church-bell nor greeting each other around the 
same hearth. Do you rememlx-r the Sabljath evenings in the 

30 



466 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

orchard where we lingered till gray twilight crept over forest 
and field, and day died away on the hill-tops ? Or those other 
evenings which we passed in summer on the little platform 
around the front-door or under the trees in the yard, while the 
moonbeams stole quietly through the foliage and fell lightly 
upon the grass, and the crickets chirped plaintively among the 
weeds in the lane? But enough. Let us remember the 
lessons of philosophy : 'Look not mournfully into the past;, 
it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present ; it is 
thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and 
Avith a manly heart.' Or the yet holier precepts of the Bible : 
' So numbering our days as to apply our hearts unto wisdom.' 
Well, then, not forgetting the past with its sweet but melan- 
choly pleasures, let us turn to the present and the future. Oh, 
how I wish you were all with us in this beautiful place ! Our 
house now (we have moved) is near the First Presbyterian 
Church, and in the handsomest part of the city. It is on a corner 
lot, and from our porch and front-door we look out on beauties 
amid which Sylvauus and the Dryads might well love to dwell, 
and this too in the midst of the city — the birds sing around 
us every morning. But I cannot describe to you the charms 
in and about our little city. The grandeur indeed wdiich be- 
longs to mountainous regions we have not, but all the beauties 
of the plain are ours. And the people are just as hospitable 
and agreeable as the place is handsome. When will you come 
and see us ? " 

To the same : — 

"Daytox, March 18, '54, 

"... We do not now expect to visit the East this summer, 
but shall spend some time in New Lisbon Shall we never 
meet again ? Shall we never even hear from you again ? We 
both unite in our best love to you all. Irving, I presume, will 
soon be a young man ; it is but as yesterday since I first saw 
him an infant one day old. But I am getting gray myself, 
and ' am not what I have been, and the gloio which ^ in my 
spirit dwelt ' is turned now to the sober and steady light of 
manhood. And how, and who, and what are you^ now, who 
were once Mary Spcncc, ' witching ' the sand-hills ^ of old 
Worcester like Di Yernon wdth * noble horsemanship,' and 
reading Childe Harold and Scott's novels as if there were no 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 467 

realities to be grajipled with in life ? Verily I began with the 
figures of arithmetic and have ended with figures of rhetoric ! 
So I must pause. Now do, for the sake of the hallowed 
memories of the past, my dear sister, if you care nothing or 
expect nothing in the future, ^vrite me one of your old-fashioned 
letters. Let the abundance of your heart speak out. 

" Very sincerely still, as of yore under the moonlit trees 
of * Salem,' your most affectionate brother, 

" Clement. 
" Mrs. Mary E. Vallandigham, New Ark, Delaware. 

"P. S. — How is "^ Jimmy Laird'? I would be delighted 
to see liiui. Tell him ho must study hard and be a good boy, 
so that he may be useful and make his mark in the world for 
good when he grows up." 

New Lisbon is one of the most beautiful towns in the State 
of Ohio. Regularly laid out and compactly built, it presents 
the appearance of a little city. On the south and the west 
are hills so lofty that they might almost be called mountains. 
Along the foot of these hills flows a beautiful stream — one of 
the forks of the Beaver. There is also a considerable acclivity 
to the north, on which part of the town is built, thougli 
the principal part is nestled in the valley. The tow^n is health- 
ful, the people refined, intelligent and social, and the scenery 
charming. 

The Rev. Clement Vallandigham was one of the first 
settlers of the place — made it his permanent residence in 
1807. He purchased a few acres at the west end of Walnut 
street, just on the edge of the village, and erected a comfort- 
able brick house. Additions to it Avere afterwards made, and 
now it is a large and commodious mansion. Here his chilcben 
and many of his grandchildren were born. The site is hand- 
some, and surrounded as it is with fruit trees and ornamental 



468 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLANDIGHAM. 

trees aud shrubbery, it is an attractive, a delightful place. 
To this, the Old Homestead, his son Clement was warmly 
attached, as were also all the members of the family. " Beau- 
tiful for situation," a home of peace and piety and love and 
happiness, where for years father and mother and seven 
children dwelt together in harmony — he often refers to it 
in his letters in terms of warmest affection. His feelino-s on 
revisiting this place are depicted in the following extracts from 
letters addressed to his brother James : — 

" Is^'ew Lisbox, July 31, 1849. 

" My Dear Brother : — To-day mother received sister R.'s 
letter, and though I wrote to you just before I left Da}i;on, 
yet inasmuch as I feel in a writing mood, I have determined 
not to delay for an answer. We left D. on Thursday, 
July 19, 1849, and arrived that night by rail at Sandusky 
City, where we remained till morning, when we took the lake- 
boat for Cleveland, and arriving there about noon, rested till 
IMonday morning, at which time we left in • the stage for 
Lisbon. About early dawn on Tuesday morning, the 24th, 
Ave entered by the Salem road the old familiar town, and 
roused the family from their slumbers, and were happy to find 
them all well. For several days we kept witliin doors 
recruiting, and j)urging our systems of the pestilent effects 
of the cholera atmosphere. Now we are both in good health 
and spirits. The weather is fine, and I have been about for 
several days visiting the haunts of my childhood and youth. 
The contrast between the close and noisome atmosphere of the 
cholera regions and the pure and bracing air of this place has 
quite exhilarated me. Something, too, is owing to the power 
of early recollections and old associations. The homo of my 

birth and childhood is very dear to me But very 

many, indeed nearly all of those who Once made this place 
dear and pleasant, are gone ; some dead, some removed — all 

gone But how lovely are these dear old hills, these 

sweet green fields, these pleasant valleys ! every blade of grass 
and every old tree has some dear association connected with it. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 469 

The beams of the morning sun shme nowhere so sweetly, and 
his setting rays bring on the niihl shades of evening nowiiere 
so softly, as viewed from this dear old Homestead. It is a 
dear, a lovely spot, not merely from the many and sweet recol- 
lections and associations in memory which cluster round it, 
but because nature has really made it and the hills, streams, 
fields, forests and valleys around very beautiful. It is now 
night, and while I am writing at the window of the old 
* South Room,* the moonbeams are falling quietly through the 
leaves of the trees, whose shadows sleep so softly on the green 
grass of the ' front yard.' The crickets, lineal descendants, no 
doubt, of their ancestors who chirped so plaintively in our 
boyhood's ears, are still chiming the old accustomed song. 
The trees have grown so much that they almost obscure the 
house entirely from view from the street ; but yet there is little 
change here, except that some of the happy inmates of this 
house are absent — one, the revered and beloved father, guide 
and protector of us all, sleeps in death. This is brother 
George's birthday: Sabbath Avas mine. It is something to 
pass one's thirtieth birthday in the same house and the same 
room where born, and receive there the blessing of the same 
mother. To-day I revisited some of the places around here 
endeared by early recollections. Day after day I look with 
pleasure on the beauties of the scenery which surrounds me, 

for all is indeed beautiful I hope your wishes may bo 

gratified, and that you may be restored to this your old home. 
Though much out of repair, it is one of the most beautifully 
situated and sweetest places in the world." 

In the summer of 1851 he again visited his old home, and 
thus MTites to the same brother : — 

" TuE Old Homestead, New Lisbon, 

'' Thursday, July 17, 1851. 

^'My Very Dear Brother : — I promised you, some eighteen 
months ago, a long, long letter, and week after week have 
designed to redeem the promise. But as I used to tell dear 
sister Mary, 'the cares of this world and the dcoeitfulness of 
riches ' have caused me, day by day, to put it off. I now be- 
gin, but whether I shall be able to spin it out to the ' consti- 



470 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

tutional length/ I cannot say. But I will write till I get 
through. Hereafter I shall make no such promises, for it has 
clearly prevented me from writing several shorter ones long 
ago. . . . Though I have been negligent of writing, I assure 
you I have thought of you and yours every day with the kind- 
liest ail'ection. And indeed you do not know how I have 
grieved over our long and distant separation, and how glad I 
should — and liopo I shall — be when wo shall be brought 
closer together. It is now nearly six years since we ceased to 
be residents of the same j^lace, and though we have met several 
times since, yet our intercourse has of necessity been much 
limited. I would we might all be together once more even for 
a little — much more, that we could live again in the same 
place and be brothers as of yore. But as this can hardly be, 
how rejoiced I would feci if we could be nearer at least ! If 
you prefer it, I hope some way will yet be opened up — and 
soon too — for your return to this place. Though in view of 
the course of lite which I feel impelled to pursue, I am un- 
Avilling to live here myself, and presume I never shall, yet I 
love it dearly. There is scarce an object around me which is 
not entwined witli the very tendrils of my heart — not a sight 
or sound Avhich does not call up a thousand pleasing, though 
it may be melancholy recollections. I have now been here 
nearly two weeks, and everything is as beautiful and dear to 
me as ever. The sunbeams gild these hills as brightly, and 
the shadows fall as gently over these valleys, and the moon- 
light sleeps as sweetly under these trees, as they did ' in life's 
morning march.' I write in the ' South Room ; ' but the trees 
are now grown so thick in number and foliage that the street 
can scarce be seen from the window. The old cherry-tree is 
fuller of fruit than for now just seventeen years — 1833. The 
old locust is now much higher than the house — the orchard 
just as it was, but many new trees have grown up in the front 
yard. The stable looks almost too dilapidated to be venerable; 
tlie pump, oven, and wash-house show, too, the marks of age. 
The meadow has just been 'mowed and yielded much hay. 
The trees in the fields around are about as they were ; but that 
beautiful grove, ' Potter's Woods,' hallowed by a thousand 
sweet recollections, has at last with profane and . heathenish 
barbarity, and in the worst spirit of ^vandalism, been cut down 
entirely. I feel like David of old, as if-'the.heathen.had come 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 471 

into our heritage' Tlicy have certainly defiled one of ' God's 
first temples.' Other objects, and especially that beautiful out- 
line of hills and woods which surround the town on the west, 
south, and east, remain the same; nor must I forget 'Hepner's 
Hollow.' How many a quiet Sabbath evening have I watched 
from the window the lengthening shadows falling gently upon 
its sides ! And the water murmurs as sweetly through it 
' over the enameled stones,' as in my boyhood's days. Verily, 
these are ' chosen seats,' and I have wandered over them by 
the hour repeating the lines I believe I have often quoted be- 
fore — HIg illhts arma: his curnis fuif, &c. Juvat ire ad 
eastra : Hie acics solehat certare: hie manus Dolopum. I can 
never forget them. Like the dying Argive, hither will I turn 
my eyes as they search for the last time for earth and earth- 
born objects, d dulccs moriens rcminiscetur Argos. Nor can I 
forget that whatever, if any, of good and merit there is about 
me, was here acquired under the precept and example of our 
noble and excellent parents, one of whom, God be praised, yet 
survives. This, too, was the scene of my early ambition and 
studies, of early struggles and early triumphs. This, you 
remember, Avas my room. I see here still the mottoes which 
ten years ago I Avrote upon the wall — ^Amor Patrice' — ' Scm- 
per manor qui sis' — 'Quisque suce- fortunce faber,' and the 
words of the dying Roman matron, ' Facte, non dolet.' But 
there are also endearing ties here common to us all. There is 
an odor of sanctity about this house. It is a house of prayer, 
and for forty years the incense of devotion has gone up to 
heaven from its hearths. I feel that it is good for me to be 
here." 

The following letter exhibits the deep and tender sympathy 
he felt for his friends in time of trouble, and his earnest efforts 
to comfort and encourage them. His eldest brother had 
changed his profession, and as a consequence found it necessary 
to leave the Old Homestead and seek a new field of labor in 
his new profession, and was for a time unsettled. The old 
home was then rented to strangers, and there were apprehen- 
sions that it might pass entirely out of the possession of the 



472 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

family, a calamity which they all greatly deprecated. Under 
these circumstances he thus A\Tites to his sister-in-law : — 

"]S'ew Lisbon, 7th June, 1846. 
3Iy very dear Sister : — Your letter to sister Margaret was 
received yesterday, and though between love, var, jioUtics and 
court I never was so busy in my life, I cannot refrain writing 
to you. I am so sorry that circumstances were such that you 
could not have come Jiome and spent the time with us. I 
sympathise most warmly, earnestly with you in your present 
unsettled, wandering life. It almost makes my heart bleed ; 
indeed I couldn't help shedding a few tears over your letter, 
and exclaiming, God bless the dear Mary ! Do you remember 
one bright moonlight night when we were young, in Snow 
Hill^ on the east porch at 'Salem,' (ah me, all gone, long, 
long ago !) I promised to be a brother to you ? Well, I have 
been and am yet, and mean to be till death. I often love to 
think of the hapj)y hours Ave used to see on the 'Eastern 
Shore,' and at home too. How often we sat in your upper 
porch and on the front steps, or walked in the orchard in the 
Sabbath evenings (this too is a Sabbath evening; looks just 
like some of the evenings of former years — but I must write 
to you.) I have just returned from a walk past the old spot. 
Oh, how sad I felt to think that the fire on the old family hearth 
had gone out, and that strangers trod the rooms where we so 
oflen sat, and that I could no more enter the olden mansion or 
walk over the grounds, and call it 'home.' Yet the grass 
and the trees are as green, and the front yard as pretty, and the 
flowers as bright as when it teas home. But let us pass by these 
things. I cannot be sad long. I sing in my heart, ' Come 
again, bright days, come again,' and they are almost here. 
Do not despair, dear sister. Courage, courage ; l)righter pros- 
pects are before you, better days are in store. The wilderness 
is almost passed, Jordan is at your feet ; from Pisgah do you 
not see the land flowing with milk and honey ? Do not repine : 
the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, but the 
Son of man, the only and well-beloved Son of the ' Father in 
Heaven,' had not where to lay His head. What a lesson of 
resignation and patience and fortitude ! " 

But words of kindness and sympathy on the part of Mr. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 473 

Vallandigliam were not the only evidences of affection for his 
relatives and friends. When ©importunity offered, or necessity 
called for it, he promjDtly and to the full measure of his ability 
granted substantial aid. His father died in 1839, leaving a 
widow and seven children — three of them minors — Clement 
and a younger brother and sister. For thirty-two years he 
had labored diligently and faithfully in his chilling, but the 
estate he left was small. His salary, like that of his brethren 
in the ministry generally, had always been inadequate ; by in- 
dustry and economy however, teaching his childi-en himself, and 
they assisting each other, he managed to give them all a good 
education. This was all he could do. At his death, the sujaport 
of the family devolved in a good measure on the eldest son ; 
and when after some years he left the bar, entered the ministry 
and removed to a distant field of labor, Clement, who in the 
meantime had finished his education, studied his profession and 
entered upon its practice, assumed his place, and till liis death 
faithfully performed the duty thus thrown upon him. Before 
lie was able to buy a home for himself he purchased one for 
his mother, borrowing money for the purpose. To this he refers 
in the following letters to his mother and his brother James : 

" Dayton, Sept. 3, 1851. 
"My Dearest Dear Ifother: — Your most welcome letter came 
this moment, and I assure you I am very thankful to you for 
writing. I think of you and of you all every day. The 
pleasure which the praise I receive throughout the State gives 
■)/ou, my dearest mother, is a far higher gratification to me than 
the praise itself; and so far as I deserve it, to you and to my 
dear departed father under Providence the merit is due. Under 
your roof, around your hearth-stone, from your lips and 
his, I learned those things, praise for which I most highly 
value. And I unite most fervently with you in the wish *that 



474 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

I may find a name and a place among the chosen of God. 
Meantime it is my earnest prayer daily that I may not forget 
that ' riches and honor ' come from Him. I am very glad to 
hear that you are so well and so comfortable so flir, and if I 
can 2-)ossihly be in New Lisbon this foil I will certainly go ; but 
if not, I will not forget you. I hope to meet you often again. 
Tell my dear sister Margaret to be of good cheer, remembering 
always that David has said that he had been young but was 
now old, yet he had never seen the righteous forsaken or his 
children begging bread. All will come right in good time ; 
light will dawn when and where least expected. 

"... So the property will be sold ; but so much the better 
perhaps ; for if I can make the arrangement to get the money 
in the way and on the terms I spoke of, I will buy it myself. If 
not, I will provide you a most comfortable place to live in in 
any event; though I would for your sake, dearest mother, and 
my own and the sake of all of us, a thousand times prefer to 
keep the old place for you. And I wall do all which I can do 
safely; and I know my mother desires no more." 

From the letter which follows it will be seen that he suc- 
ceeded in securing a home for his mother, and the one which 
above all others she preferred — the Old Homestead. In this 
she lived many years — to the close of her life — her daughters 
living with her. He was accustomed to pay her an annual 
visit, and as long as she lived he provided cheerfully and 
liberally for her wants and lovingly ministered to her comfort, 
and when she died he continued the same kind care to the 
members of her family that survived. 

To his brother James : — 

*^ Dayton, December 22d, 1851. 

*^ . . Upon these considerations alone it was that I pur- 
chased the property. I do not expect ever to occupy it myself. 
I bought it as a home for my mother while she lives. I desire 
that she and my sisters, and Mr. R. and family (if she wishes 
it) shall occupy it; and I do not expect to_ receive anything 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. YALLAKDIGIIAM. 475 

for it except in the yvny of taxes and repairs — perhaps not 
even that — though I shall pay the interest upon the purchase 
money every year myself. This is the utmost I can do, for 
though my practice is becoming lucrative, I have nothing else 
to depend on. We live ourselves very plainly, exorcising still 
no small self-denial. But we have seen worse times, having, 
since we came to Dayton, suifered many privations and seen 
some sore affliction. Yet we suffered all in silence, and no one 
knew of it. Times arc now changed, and by denying myself 
luxuries, I can render aid to those Avho have so strong a claim 
upon me ; and above all to her to whom I owe so much, and 
who through the wearisome months and years of infancy and 
childhood watched over and protected me in my helplessness." 

AYe feel a delicacy in introducing these private family 
matters, but it is rendered necessary from the fact that in the 
wild excitement of 1861, and again in the violent political 
campaign of 18G3, the charge of neglect of his aged mother 
was alleged against him — a charge that was utterly ground- 
less, and one that he resented more indignantly than any other 
that had ever been made. 

The following letter published at the time will sufficiently 
indicate the nature of the charge and the manner in Vv'liich it 
-was disposed of. It is addressed to a Ilei)ublican editor in 
whose paper the slanderous article had appeared : — 

"Xew Ark, Del., July 24, 1861. 

"/S'(V; — My attention has been called to an article in your 
paper of last Saturday, which demands some notice from me. 
I mean the article in reference to my brother, the Hon. C. L. 
Yallandigham, member of Congress from the Third District 
of Ohio. The article in question purports to be an extract 
from a letter from a gentleman of the Dayton district, and 
contains a most atrocious calumny on my brother, as M-ell as 
allusions to my aged and venerable mother of a highly offen- 
sive character. 

" Who the author is I do not know, but I assert that the 



476 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

charge ho brings is without the slightest foundation in truth; 
is indeed precisely the reverse of what is true. Even the im- 
material allegations he makes are false, evincing total ignorance 
in reference to the matter of which he writes, or utter reckless- 
ness. He s]:»eak3 of my mother as a member of the Presby- 
terian Churcli at Dayton; Avhereas she was ]\evcr within a 
hundred miles of Dayton in her life. My father, the Rev. 
Clement Vallandigham, was for thirty-two years pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church of New Lisbon, Ohio. 

" It is there his widow lives, and has lived for more than 
fifty years. And I assert what I know to be the fact, that she 
is now, and has been for yeai's, maintained by this same son 
whom your correspondent so basely defames. And a kinder 
and more affectionate son can nowhere be found. Pie supports 
her most cheerfully ; it affords him pleasure to minister to her 
wants, and make her comfortable. She occupies as good a. 
house, I have no doubt, as your corresj)ondent, and is in all 
respects in as comfortable circumstances, and in as little danger 
or fear of want in the future, as he. 

" And all this is provided by this same ' son, who has a 
family of his own to support beside, and whose means arc 
comparatively limited, who earns his daily bread by his daily 
labor. AVhatevcr may ])o said of my brother's political course 
(and in this I know lie is as honest and conscientious as any 
man in the country), all who arc acquainted with him can 
testify to the purity and integrity of his private character. 

" Trusting that you Avill insert this in your paj^er, and thus 
in a measure counteract the injury done by the article referred 
to, " I am yours, etc., 

" J. L. Yallaxdigha:m." 

The foregoing letter sufficiently answers the charge of neg- 
lect ; but we go further, and affirm that so far from being guilty 
of any neglect, he was distinguished for very warm affection to 
his mother, and for earnest and constant effort to promote her 
comfort : and in proof of this ^YC will make brief extracts from 

a number of his letters : — 

"Daytox, Marchll, '53. 
"il/j/ Dear Mother: — I have not time to-day to write you 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 477 

a long letter. Yours of the 3cl instant was very welcome, and 
affected me much. I hope you may live many years longer in 
health and strength, and that goodness and mercy will here- 
after as heretofore follow you all your days — all your ways 
being pleasantness, and all your paths peace. I cannot do too 
much for you ; all I have done or can do is but as the small 
dust of the balance." 

To the same : — 

"Dayton, Nov. 22, 1853. 

"... I trust you will spend the winter pleasantly. Do 
take good care of your health ; and do not deny yourself a 
single comfort — nor my dear sisters. I am still highly pros- 
pered, and able, and I thank God willing and anxious to do 
all I can." 

To the same : — 

"Dayton, March 8, 1855. 

" 3fy Dearest Mother: — Inasmuch as I have been most 
abundantly prospered above any former period of my profes- 
sional life, within the last five or six weeks, please accept the 
inclosed as a testimonial of my ever grateful sense of the many 
obligations I am under to you, and which I more and more 
feel that I shall never be able to repay." 

To the same: — 

"Dayton, June 28; 1856. 

"... But never be uneasy, I have always plenty to supply 
all your wants ; and it would distress me sorely to think that 
you ever felt uneasy or unhappy about it. God in His kind 
Providence blesses me still in basket and in store. I bless His 
holy name night and morning, and at all times, for His loving 
kindness and tender mercies. I am very anxious to see you 
again, and will spend all my spare time in Lisbon this 



Mr. Vallandigham never had much command of money ; 
and we make this statement in justice to his character.. Some 



478 LIFE OF CLEME2^T L. YALLAXDIGHAM. 

of his friends sometimes thought that he was not as liberal as 
he ought to be in contributions to meet political expenses of 
his party, even in his own campaigns. The reason was, he 
had not money of his own, and he would not use that of others. 
The purchase of a home for his mother, and afterwards of a 
house for himself, kept him in debt for sixteen years. And 
when that debt was paid, the support of his family and the aid 
which he felt bound to render to others who were dependent 
upon him absorbed the whole of his income. He never made 
anything by politics. AYhen in the Legislature of Ohio, and 
afterwards in Congress, the salary attached to his office was all 
that he received. His hands were never defiled with a bribe. 
Pecuniarily as well as in all other respects, he was a man of the 
strictest honesty and integrity. 

In January, 1848, he lost his first-born son, then his only 
child. His tender love for the child and deep grief at the 
bereavement are depicted in the following letter to liis brother 
James : — 

" Dayton, January 31, 1848. 

"My Very Dear Brother: — Although this is the day which 
I generally devote to the writing of editorial, yet I have delayed 
so long to reply to your letters, now three in number unan- 
swered, that I feel as if I should delay no longer. Mary's 
letter to Louisa came also a few days ago. It was a dear, 
comforting letter, and we feel truly grateful for the kindness 
and sympathy which you feel for us. I cannot now tell you 
all the circumstances attending the death of our dear cherub. 
It was very sudden and unexpected, and crushed our hearts to 
the very ground. ]\Iy dear little boy was just beginning to 
notice objects fully, and every day twined him more closely 
round our hearts. He was the joy of our family hearth: the 
very fire burned brighter from his presence ; and bright visions 
of the future connected with him every day sprang up in my 
imagination. And this is the sting of my grief now. I do 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 479 

not meet a little boy on the street but my heart bleeds, every 
wound streams afresh. O my AVillie, my own dear boy ! It 
was not permitted to me to see my precious child grow up. 
His disease was violent and soon reaehed the fatal j^oint, but 
his death was lingering : it seemed almost as if he did not 
want to leave us. And this was the bitterness of death — to 
see his long struggle with the monster ; to behold him cling 
thus to life and yet have no power to save him ; to watch his 
dear, sweet, precious frame sink, and his once bright smiling 
eye grow dim hour by hour. Oh, may you never lose a child ! 
But at last his breath parted so gently that we could hardly 
tell that he was gone. But it was so : my poor dear boy was 
no more. We buried him on a beautiful knoll in the ceme- 
tery, and between two little trees. There he sleej^s quietly, un- 
knowing of his poor father's grief. I mean to have a little 
marble monument put over his grave (the only land I own on 
earth), with his name ' Willie ' inscribed, and the words, ' Of 
such is the Kingdom of Heaven.' Louly's grief was terrible, 
and the scene of her parting with his corpse heart-rending 
beyond description; but she is now for the most part calm and 
resigned. Everybody was as kind as if we were their nearest 
relatives : I never lived among or even visited such a people 
before. Mr. Anderson was an especial comfort to us ; he is an 
extraordinary man. But nothing enabled me to bear up under 
the affliction except the firm conviction that though we saw 
not how, it was for the best, and that He who orders all things 
aright required our babe of us. He had given, and He now 
took away. After having thus passed through the fiery furnace 
ourselves, we are prepared to sympathise most deeply with 
ISIary in her affliction. I heard of Mrs. Robins' death with 
real sorrow. 

"As to the plan proposed by Mr. E.. I am sorry to see you 
go away so far; it is very hard indeed. I had hoped that we 
might yet live in the same place ; I hope so yet. The offer is 
a tempting one, yet there are some serious objections which I 
foresee. Still if you think it for the l)est, go with our blessing. 
I almost M-eep to think that our family, once so closely bound 
together, inmates of the same house, seated all around the same 
fireside, are already so widely separated. Oh that we could 
pass through the bi'ief journey of life near together! AVhat 
would we not have given to have had you all with us in our 
late affliction .' " 



480 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Mr. Vallandigham's social qualities were of a high order. 
He was exceedingly popular with the masses. Young men who 
studied in his office became warmly attached to him. Men 
connected with him in business, or who mingled with him 
socially, esteemed and loved him. The editor of the Manchester 
(Ohio) Democrat thus attests the truth of these declarations : — 

" When Mr. Yallandigham was one of the editors and pro- 
prietors of the Dayton Ledger, more than two years ago, we 
were employed on that paper, and met him almost every day. 
"We have therefore perliaps had a better opportunity of an ac- 
quaintance with the man's private life and social disposition 
than any of our cotemporaries in this portion of the State. 
From personal knowledge we can say that a more upright, 
noble and honorable private life can be accredited to no man. 
At home, his worst political enemies were often his devoted 
personal friends. His almost unparalleled colloquial powers 
made him always companionable, and his attractive manners 
and easy conversation won the friendship of his opponents. To 
meet him was to become his friend at once. It has been said 
that Vallandigham was unpopular. However this may be, 
where he was best known he was best liked. No one could 
know him personally and be his enemy. He was no respecter 
of persons, and would converse with as much interest with the 
j)oor man as with the rich — he respected the high and the low 
alike. Possibly this was the secret of his popularity at homo. 
His ambitions and aspirations were all of the most elevated 
character, and his thoughts were of the loftiest order.'' 

Similar is the testimony of Mr. Dunifer, of the Germantown 
Dollar Times. He says : — 

" We personally, intimately knew him as a loving friend, a 
kind and courteous preceptor. We entered his office as a 
student, and the many acts of kindness and fatherly advice en- 
deared him to us as no other living man. To speak of his 
virtues, we would know not where to begin or where to end, so 
numerous were his good qualities of head and heart. One extra- 
ordinary trait of his character was his unequaled firmness. . . . 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 481 

He never faltered, for his own moral courage was absolutely 
boundless, and when he felt himself to be right he was as un- 
swerving as Truth itself. . . . With an imposing presence and 
a manner singularly sweet and gentle, he possessed the most un- 
daunted courage. His sympathies were always with the masses, 
his memory is embalmed with their tears." 

The Rev. F. T. Brown, D. T>., in the same communication 
from which we have already quoted, thus testifies to his social 
qualities : — 

"... We did not meet again for seven years, when I was 
a preacher, and he was a rising lawyer and politician. I had 
been licensed but was not yet settled, when quite unexpectedly 
I was put in charge of the First Presbyterian Church of Dayton, 
Ohio, to sup])ly it for six months during the absence of its 
pastor. Mr. Vallandigham lived there then, and was a member 
of the congregation to which I ministered. His wife was a 
member of the church ; and some years later he also became a 
member. Our old friendship was renewed, and we had some 
pleasant times together in his modest little home. He was 
still comparatively a poor man, but lived within his means, and 
held his head as high as the wealthiest and most aristocratic of 
them all in that aristocratic place. I can recall no particular 
memories of his life at that time, except the general impression 
made on me that he was very ambitious, and was giving too 
much attention to politics. He was still the same frank, genial, 
pleasant gentleman and pure-minded man I had always known 
him." 

It may not be amiss here to give some description of the 
personal appearance of Mr. Vallandigham for the benefit of 
those who never saw him. An Englishman writing from 
Niagara Falls, thus describes him : — 

" A more thorough gentleman in manner, appearance, and 
language it would not be easy to find ; certainly it would be 
difficult to get many such among those who assail him so bit- 
terly. He is a man of medium height and build, fresh in 

31 



482 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

complexion — that freshness which betokens health — and 
exceedingly intelligent-looking, without that massiveness of 
brain which frequently, though not always, accompanies great 
intellectual power. Exceedingly amiable in disposition, he is 
respected by all who know him. Refined in manner and lan- 
guage, he impresses you on the instant as few American poli- 
ticians impress you. AYere I to describe him in a word, not 
knowing his native country, I would say he was an English 
gentleman of good education and training, of great probity, 
and much more than an average share of ability and political 
acquirements. A schemer, even in politics, I could not con- 
ceive him to be." 

But perhaps the most concise and accurate personal de- 
scription of him is the following from a Southern paper, 
written in May 1863 : — 

"Whilst in Shelby ville, I seized the opportunity of seeing 
Mr. Yallandigham. Without impertinently intruding upon 
that distinguished man, I heard him converse for an hour or 
so upon one topic and another. His manner has nothing 
studied or aifected ; he speaks without effort or hesitation, and 
his face bears a permanent expression of good-humor and 
friendship. His eyes are blue, full, and look right into yours ; 
and whilst they beam with vivacity and intelligence, there is an 
earnest honesty in them which has won your regard and admi- 
ration before you know it. His complexion is florid, his nose 
rather hooked (Roman), chin and lips well chiseled and firm, 
teeth strong and white ; hair and whiskers dark chestnut and 
close trimmed ; height about five feet ten ; his frame is 
robust, compact, and graceful. Altogether he is certainly a 
man of extraordinary mental and physical vigor; ot great 
natural abilities improved by cultivation, combining impulse 
with deliberation, and enthusiasm with remorseless determina- 
tion of purpose." 

The following letters show that Mr. Yallandigham was a 
loving husband and a fond father — clearly indicate that 
though called a man of ' iron mould,' he had a very warm and 
affectionate heart : — 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 483 

" New York Hotel, Neay York City, 

"June 1st, 1862. 
" 3Iy Very Dear Wife : — Just opposite my window I see 
through the glass a most charming sight — a little boy, just 
about Charlie's age and size, neatly dressed, and bright-eyed 
and with a bright glowing face, is kissing his mother who stoops 
down that he may reach her. Both are standing by the 
window looking out upon the rain. Now she stoops down 
not quite low enough, and he jumps up, over and over again, 
and kisses her, and now she puts her arm round his little neck 
and hugs him fast. How sweet a picture ! and yet to me how 
saddening too, for my dear darling little man and his dear 
mother are far away. I am homesick, homesick — a disease 
not treated of in the medical books or recognised by the 
faculty. And yet it is a sore and wearisome malady, and for 
it there is neither balm nor pliysician. ' 'Tis home where'er 
the heart is,' and my heart is in my Dayton home. As I 
advance in the vale of years, blessed be God it becomes dearer 
to me ; and as I am tried in the fiery ordeal of this terrible 
Revolution, and they begin to call me a man of ' iron mould,' 
thank God again, the tenderer my heart becomes. So I pray 
may it ever be. My friends who have never seen me think 
me an elderly man of large frame and stern aspect, and my 
enemies something less only than a monster. How little they 
dream how young I am, and hovY that my heart melts and 
tears flow from my eyes as if I were a woman many and 
many a time, as the Angel of Sadness troubles the pool of 
sorrow or affection. Be it so; * after some time be past' 
they may understand me better." 

To his son Charlie, eight years old : — 

" Washington City, Dec. 16, 1862. 
" 3Iy Very Dear, Day-ling Little Boy : — I received both of 
your letters. They pleased me so much. I am sometimes, 
indeed every day, very homesick. It is a hard thing for me to 
be separated from mother and you so long ; but public duty 
requires it. When you grow up you will wonder at the 
strange times in which your father lived and acted. I M-ant 
you to go on with your studies. Read and write slowly and 
accurately. Make your letters all well formed. Take your 



484 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

timo to it. Draw slowly too. I will send you some specimens ; 
also a copy-book. But above all, be a good boy. Obey your 
mother ; be gentle and kind to all around you. Be honorable ; 
be just. My dear boy, your papa cannot tell you how much 
he loves you, so do nothing to grieve hira. Give much love 
to mother and aunty, and all. Good-bye, and may God bless 
you, my darling boy. Most affectionately, 

" Your Fathee." 

The following interesting scenes in the social and domestic 
life of Mr. Vallandigham are from the pen of his cousin, Mrs. 
Lila Laird Egbert, wdfe of Dr. Augustus R. Egbert, of 
the United States Army. Her father, the Rev. Robert M. 
Laird, w^as a brother of Mr. Vallandigham's mother : — 

" My recollections of my cousin Clement begin in my early 
childhood. I was only a little girl when he came to our home 

in C , Pennsylvania, stopping for a few days with us on liLs 

way from Maryland. It was a gloomy autumn evening long- 
ago, but I remember welT how much brightness and life seemed 
to have come in with the blithe, handsome young student as we 
sat round the fire together. He was so young then, ' life's morn- 
ing march ' lay all before him, and his heart was full of faith 
and hope. I can see my cousin as he looked then, erect and 
graceful in figure, the dark hair swept back from his brow so 
high and white, Jiis eyes a deep clear blue, his cheeks lit with 
beautiful bloom, and his whole countenance beaming with ex- 
pression and intelligence. SSuch a bright face!' said my grand- 
mother, who was given to be rather critical; 'your cousin has 
indeed a "morning face," no shadows upon it.' 

" Just as I wrote the above sentence my eyes fell upon a 
little j)icture of Clement which is near me, a likeness of him 
taken in later years, when life had become a conflict, and he 
had girded on his armor and proved himself ' a hero in the 
strife.' This is not quite the 'morning face' with which my 
cousin rises from ' the sea of remembrance ' as I think of that 
long-ago autumn visit; there are shadovrs on it now, yet they 
are ' but the shadows which set forth the brightness of the noon.' 
The light of the eyes is as beautiful and true as ever, and faith 
and courage, tried, matured, are in their dejjths; the brow is 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 485 

more thoughtful, and round the mouth are lines of resolution 
and earnestness, telling of contests fought and won. It is a 
noble, good face, the face of one Avho was not afraid 'to do the 
right, and do it like a man/ 

" But this is a digression, and I resume my memories. 
During that visit, so full of sunny hours, I learned to know, 
child as I was, the charm of my cousin's sympathy. He was 
never indifferent to my sister and myself. Our childish 
thoughts and hopes never wearied him, and he entered into our 
amusements with a zest which made him perfectly delightful 
to us. He had hopes and plans for the future, and, as I long 
afterward learned, much at that very time to occupy and press 
upon liis mind, but he would not let that mar the holiday we 
all were having. He would not send away the two little girls 
who climbed on his chair and himg around him, eagerly claim- 
ing his time and attention, and 'for the nonce' he made him- 
self a merry-hearted boy. But I remember how earnest ho 
could be then, and ' pass from gay to grave ' when the occasion 
came. One evening, just at the close of a grand frolic, chest- 
nut-roasting at the glowing open fire, J. M came in to 

talk with Clement. He was also a young law-student, and 
much interested in politics, and very soon the two drifted ujion 
that subject. Of course I remember nothing of their talk, 
excepting this (and I never could forget it). J. said in reply to 
some remark Clement had made, 'Well, I shall be a politician 
just so far as it will bring me in "the loaves and fishes," and 
I shall trim my sails accordingly, and float with the smoothest 
current,' with something else to that effect. Clement sprang 
to his feet, his blue eyes flashing and the color deepening in 
his cheek. 'I too,' he said in a deep low voice, 'shall be a poli- 
tician; but I shall be a patriot, God helping me, and true to 
my conscience and to principle. Yes, I would rather lose favor 
and riches a hundredfold than lose my honesty and honor.' 
How grand and roused he looked when he said that, his eyes 
beaming, his whole face eloquent Avith noble indignation ! I 
watched him almost in awe, but admiring his brave, true Avords, 
though J. laughed and said something about ' all that being 
romance which time would cure.' And were those impt.s ;ioned 
words but the utterance of 'a romance' which time was to 
cure? Let my cousin's record answer. I was but a child Avhen 
I heard him speak them, and I have lived to see them proved. 



486 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

I have read their fulfilment. Through shadow and storm, fierce 
trials and conflicts abounding, he stood ' true to conscience and 
to princijile/ The young student who spoke out so nobly in 
the little fire-side circle that long-gone autumn evening, made 
each word sure and good in after-life. In his grand, brave 
manhood his heart did but beat to its ancient early faith when 
he said, ' Do right and trust to God, and truth, and the people ; 
perish office, perish honors, perish life itself, but do the thing 
that is right, and do it like a man.' . . . 

" It was several months after my cousin Clement's visit to 
C. that I formed the design of writing to him. My mother 
did not encourage me. I was so young, and she thought a 
child's letter could not interest a young man just becoming im- 
mersed in his profession. Still, when she found I was so much 
in earnest, she consented. I had to put a great book upon the 
chair to make me high enough for the writing-desk ; and armed 
with a new pen and a tiny sheet of paper, I wrote my first 
letter to Clement. It was a foolish little epistle, written in a 
stiff, unformed hand, and full of childish fancies and expres- 
sions. My mother smiled as she read it, and told me ' not to 
expect a reply, it was hardly possible one would come.' But 
my letter was sent, and despite the warnings of my family, who 
laughed at ' little L. and her letter,' I did expect a reply, and 
it came. My first letter ! how proud I was of it, and well I 
might be ! It was beautiful ; so full of kindness, tenderness, 
and most loving appreciation of my poor, queer little letter, 
with pleasant bits of wisdom here and there, and closing with 
thase words : ' And now as you are the very first young lady 
who has ever been kind enough to write to me, I propose the 
correspondence shall continue, not for a time, or times, but 
nhcays. Who can tell how much we may help each other ? 
You can write me of your studies, and I will aid you in them 
where I can; and when I get "blue," and tired of musty law- 
books, and " life's jarring round," I shall look to your simple 
and affectionate letters to amuse and cheer me — as I know they 
Avill if they are only like this, bright with the promise of a 
silk watch-chain xohen you learn the stitch, and a velvet heart 
pin-cushion, and graphic with such stirring adventures as your 
sledding frolic' I knew my cousin was laughing at me, but 
his letter was so good and kind I could not fail to answer it, 
and so began our correspondence, full of interest and benefit to 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 487 

me — yes, ever counted as one of the good gifts of my life. 
I think of my dear cousin's kindness with deepest affection. 
Few men indeed, immersed in business as Clement was, and 
with life's cares gathering round them, would do as he did, 
take the time and thought to write long replies to the crude 
childish letters of a little girl. Ever trying to help me and 
lead me onward as I grew up, he was my patient, dear, wise 
counsellor. I owe my cousin much for his faithful, never 
failing interest in my mental culture. His letters always did 
me good ; and it was of no light importance to a fatherless, 
brotherless, inexperienced girl as I was, to share from child- 
hood the correspondence and counsels of Clement L. Vallandig- 
ham. I will give you an extract from one of those valued 
letters ; they are all so wise and beautiful, it is like ' choosing 
gems where all are goodly.' This was written soon after I left 
school, and was to me indeed 'words fitly spoken — apples of 
gold in pictures of silver' : 

" ' You have written and spoken much of Miss , aamir- 

ing her with all the warmth of a youthful enthusiastic nature. 

I know Miss , and esteem her a very graceful writer; but 

my dear young cousin, if you would seek a model, look higher. 
Look to the Cornelias and Portias of remote times, the noble 
women whose names live on the page of history. Amongst 
them, "shining as a fair star of no fitful light," is Lady Rachel 
E-ussel. She was fearless and brave in duty's jiath ; yet the 
gentler feminine graces, without which a Avoman is not true to 
herself and to her God, were hers. She was a patriot, and 
what is far more, she was a Christian. Get her life and letters 
and read them. Her character is perhaps one of the finest on 
record. Indeed, my dear L., I am your brother ; and Avith your- 
self, I very greatly regret I cannot be more with you to assist 
you in your studies, and to give the mite of my experience to 
aid in your guidance. I will send you ere long a list of some 
books I would like you to read. Just now I write in haste, and 
shall only give a few general words of advice. Read history, 
biography, works of travel, and of standard fiction, both prose 
and poetry: but above all read and study the Bible; it is the 
wisest, purest book for any human heart to search. As to 
novels, more of them again ; but flee ' red and yellow backed 
literature,' sensational trash, as you would the plague. I would 
like you to read history much ; it is one of tho most liberalising 



488 LIFE OF CLEMENT t. VALLANDIGHAM. 

of all studies in its action upon the mind and soul, for it is the 
record of men and events remote, and free in a great degree 
from the prejudice and the selfish influence of present interest 
and times. Acquaint yourself well with the history of your 
o^^'n country ; its pages are bright with heroism and noble 
deeds. Every woman should be a patriot, though not a par- 
tisan ; and I am glad to see you feel this. Though your school 
days are ended, your studies are not over; they are just begin- 
ning. Do not say you have " no time ; " there is always time 
and a way for what a resolute will undertakes. But you must 
learn to economise your time, and divide it so wisely that one 
thing may be done at a time, and this will make you thorough 
in all you do. Forgive me if I seem in a " mood monitory " 
this morning; but we be of one blood, my cousin, and I am 
the older of the two, and have studied the world and the 
things of the world more, though I trust not " loved them too 
well." ' 

" I here close this extract to give you from my ' written 
treasures ' another quotation, though in a difl'crent vein, ,aud 
written in later years. You, my dear cousin, whose heart lay 
so near our dear Clement, knew well his deep true love for 
nature, and shared it too, I may add — and you will enjoy his 
eloquent beautiful utterances, as he says : 

" ' To your " Woodland Musings " my heart responds most 
cordially. Life and its conflicts cannot chill my warm true 
love for nature. Did I tell you of the beautiful views of 
Switzerland my friend Mr. B. had brought back with him ? 
They are unusually fine. In leisure moments I -delight to 
linger over them, feeling deeply all their charm. And yet they 
are only pictures. How I long to see the grand originals ! I 
love the mountains; they elevate and transport me, and "seem 
a part of me, and of my being." I love wild scenery ; the 
jutting j^recipice, the foaming torrent, the elevated fir-tree 
and the lofty pines ever ]3ointing upward ; and I love the 
peaceful valley-lands, over* which the blue sky seems to lean 
tenderly, where the little grasses and the ferns rejoice, and 
where the silver brook makes sweet music as it strays through 
enameled meadows to old ocean. It was a happy, a divine 
thought to place Adam in a garden, a sort of " park," such as 
Eden must have been. We have a sweet little home here ; as 
I wrote to a friend the other day, it looks like an " Egerian 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 489 

grot " nestling amongst the trees and flowers. Still it is not 
quite the country — the country, blest of God, loved by 
angels, and made for man, cultivated man's special solace and 
delight. My heart longs to dwell in its jjeaceful beauty. 
Well, if I ever should attain my " three-score and ten," and 
part at least of my dreams for the future be happily realised, 
how delighted I shall be " in shades like these," '' to crown a 
youth of labor with an age of ease." But just now? Alas ! 
I am poor and busy — and, " Barbee vs. Giles," and " Telfourd 
vs. Morning Star," " soon sank the spark immortal," for we must 
live and work, and sometimes let the gentler visions sleep — 
only sleep, for a man may be " diligent in business," yet keep his 
heart true to nature's loveliness and her great Creator's glory.' 

" I will give no more extracts : where all are so beautiful, 
how can I choose ? Kor must I linger over delightful meet- 
ings along life's journey. The memory of 'a summer of 
summers ' rises before me when we were all gathered together 
at old 'Hazlewood,' and Clement's coming and his dear 
presence placed the crown upon our happiness and made„our 
joy complete. 

"Amongst my golden memories of the past is his last visit 
to C. before my marriage. Though brief indeed, it was rich with 
goodly calk and loving counsels, the remembrance of which 
is with me as a blessing. Clement was the older of the two, 
and had then been married many years, and his warm heart 
with its quick sympathy fully read my hopes and feelings as 
I stood upon the threshold of a new life. He had not then 
met Dr. E., but he knew him through me. His heart was 
warm towards him for my sake, and he was so earnest for our 
happiness. How wisely and tenderly he talked : those good 
affectionate counsels, oould I ever forget them ? Ah, I have 
loved to trace the course of their influence in my most happy 
married life. I have told my cousin this more than once, and 
I think it not unfitting to write it here. 

" I have once before spoken of Clement's sympathy as I 
knew it in my childhood ; but in later, graver years ibr us both, 
I proved its depth and sincerity. That beautiful unselfish 
sym])athy, it ever shone so brightly in his character! When 
public life pressed on him, and each hour was filled with occu- 
pation and care, he never ceased to sympathise ^vith his friends. 
His heart never lost its warm tender interest, its sunny trust. 



490 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

He was truly brave. His courage was sublime in its faith 
and lofty calmness, for he knew no fear; he had no care but to 
do right and be true. But though unfaltering courage and 
firmness * kept the portals of his soul/ it glowed with every 
generous, gentle sentiment. Each shadow which swept over 
his path, though it deepened the resolution of his sjjirit, 
could not change its sweetness and its generosity. 

"I recall with i^eculiar satisfaction a visit from my cousin 
Clement one summer's day, when he came up to B. from the 
city. He was tired, and heartily glad to be with us once more. 
As he much needed rest, no visitors were admitted that after- 
noon and evening, and we spent some delightful hours in my 
mother's quiet room — Clement on the sofa, and my sister's 
little ones about him, for he dearly loved 'the small people.' 
'This is what I like,' he said, 'just in a circle of true hearts, 
among my "oM'n kin," "the world forgettiug, by the world 
forgot," and all its dust and noise left outside. This quiet and 
rest refreshes my spirit.' He was charming as ever with genial 
talk and loving interest, and we enjoyed every moment of that 
cherished visit. I remember the next day as we walked down 
the wide paths in the old garden at B., Clement said to me, 
and this was after storms of fierce and bitter injustice had 
swept over him, ' I have almost had " life's life lied away." I 
have suffered cruel wrongs, and fought against an antagonism 
heated seven times. It has made me stern, and roused all the 
defiance of my nature ; but I pray God it may never harden 
and embitter my heart, never make me unforgiving.' And 
again he wrote to me, ' Whatever I may be in the contest under 
the trumpet's peal, I would be true and gentle and loving in 
my home, among my own kindred, my friends. Never would 
I disappoint or chill a heart which clung and trusted to me.' 
And was he not all this ? Hearts ' who trusted and clung to 
him,' what is your answer ? Through my falling tears I read 

it, and it is written in tears, nor can I trace it here My 

sister once said to Clement, ' she regretted that our meetings 
came so seldom, she wished he could be more with us.' He 
looked up with his beautiful smile and replied, ' Never mind. 
Cousin M., after awhile we shall all be together always in " the 
leal land." ' His words now return with tender promise. For 
to that fair land he has already gone, this ' kinsman beloved.' 
Swiftly summoned from loving hearts, from many duties and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 491 

many hopes, his grard true life suddenly ceasing, he has put 
on ' the robes of immortality/ and entered upon the grander, 
truer life * which is in God.' She whose soul was bound with 
his, has followed him with quick step, ' and the days of her 
widowhood are forever ended.' 

" From the shadow of this great sorrow, lonely hearts, look 
up ! See through the mist of tears the stars of promise 
shine ! ^ In a little while we shall all be together always in 
" the leal land." ' In that hope we wait." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

HIS EELIGIOUS CHARACTEE. 

A BiOGEAPHY of Clement L. Vallandigliam M-ould be 
incomplete, indeed would be exceedingly defective, without at 
least one chapter on his religious character. He was deeply 
imbued with the religious element: this, -recognised in a 
measure by all who were acquainted with him, was well known 
to his intimate friends. And to this is to be ascribed that 
spotless purity of his private life which even his enemies con- 
ceded. His parents, by both precept and example, endeavored 
to train him up in the right way. The home of his childhood 
and youth was a home of piety. Every day the morning and 
evening incense of prayer and praise ascended from the family 
altar. The Sabbath was a holy day: in attendance on the 
sanctuary, and in the reading of the Bible and religious books 
and papers, all its hours were spent. Nor were they wearisome 
hours : in after-years he often referred to these Sabbath scenes 
as those on which memory delighted to dwell. But tl]f)ugh 
deeply imbued with the religious sj^irit, he never obtruded his 
views on others, nor did he make an ostentatious disj)lay of 
his religious feelings. He made no parade of his piety : it 
was " the hidden man of the heart." In a letter to his brother, 
which will hereafter appear, he says : " I am not used to feel 
the tender emotions of the soul in public crowds. I am a 



I 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 493 

quiet man in my feelings, and it is only in the solitude 
and retiracy of my closet that they flow out in genial gushing 
streams, or among a few select and well-tried friends and the 
bosom of my family." 

Nor was he a bigot : no one ever heard him utter an unkind 
word of any religious denomination. Though a Protestant, 
he had many friends among Catholics to whom he was warmly 
attached. In the Jews he evinced a remarkable interest, and 
on several occasions when their rights seemed to be ignored or 
overlooked, he stood up in their maintenance and defence. 

In the following letters his Christian character will be 
exhibited in a light which will, we think, be highly gratifying 
to his pious friends. To his brother, the Rev. James L. Val- 
landigham, he thus writes : — 

Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 21, 1854. 
" My Dear Brother : — Your congratulations on the birth 
of my son are very gratifying, and I fervently unite with you 
in your prayer for his life and usefulness. All this is in the 
hands of Divine Providence ; but I feel as if he will live, and 
be an ornament and solace to my declining years. I shall do 
my part tenderly but with the utmost faithfulness, sparing, by 
the favor of God, nothing in precept or by example to 
develop, cultivate and direct aright and to the highest per- 
fection his physical, moral and intellectual faculties 

The accidents of childhood are very many, and I sometimes 
feel sorely anxious when I look forward to the months and 
years yet to come. But I have much faith, and await with 
patience also the providence of Him who doeth all things well. 
How admirable and how comforting is the doctrine of faith ! 
If religion were a fable, how profound the knowledge of 
human nature and the wisdom of the Apostle who prescribes it 
as a cardinal point in the Christian's creed ! Though unhappily 
myself but an unregenerate man, I have from earliest boyhood 
been sustained and soothed amid a thousand dangers and per- 
plexities by this also, the anchor of the soul sure and steadfast. 



494: LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

And the longer I live amid the fearful incertitudes which, the 
the farther -sve advance, still more on every hand surround us, 
the more do I find this precious doctrine — among the earliest 
which I learned from our dear mother's lips — to be above 
all price." 

Such appreciation of the importance of faith and such 
recognition of Divine Providence are frequently to be found in 
his correspondence with his relatives and intimate friends. 

The letter, however, in which his religious vicAvs and feel- 
ings are most fully portrayed is that of Feb. 8, 1855, addressed 
to the same brother. A few months before, a revival of 
religion of great power had occurred in the charge of that 
brother, who was pastor of the churches of "White Clay Creek, 
Head of Christiana, and New Ark, in the State of Delaware, 
resulting in an addition of one hundred and fifty persons to 
the membership of the Church. He had heard reports of this 
revival, felt deeply interested in it, and it is to it he refers in 
his letter. 

"Daytox, February 8, 1855. 
"My Very Dear Brother: — The paper on which I write 
was laid aside for that purpose yesterday; and this morning my 
design is quickened and made the more easy of accomplish- 
ment by the receipt of your timely and most welcome letter of 
February the 3d. From cousin Lila's kind and affectionate 
letter of December, and also while at Lisbon, I learned of the 
signal blessing which has been poured out in overflowing 
abundance upon your labors in the ministry. Most heartily 
am I rejoiced for your sake. Your years of labor and self- 
denial and affliction in the things of this life have been at 
length rewarded, n.ot Avith jewels from the mines of earth, 
but with gems precious as is the worth of many souls, and 
which shall shine in your coronet forever — bright, not as the 
sun, but as that light which radiates from the presence and the 
throne of the ever-living God. Unworthy too as I am my- 
self, needing more the mercies of the Redeemer and the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 495 

graces of the Spirit than any who have found pardon and 
peace among you, I rejoice for their sakes also. For years I 
have stood like the publican of old ' afar off/ but alas ! unUke 
him, too rarely smiting my breast, or desiring mercy upon me 
a sinner. Religion has always been much in my thoughts ; 
the Bible often my study, sometimes, but how rarely, my de- 
light; its doctrines and its precepts are to me familiar as house- 
hold words; attendance upon the sanctuary has been my 
habit, and I have even remembered the Sabbath-day, but oh 
how seldom have I kept it holy ! The prayers of my child- 
hood have lingered like the odor of sweet perfume in my mem- 
ory; my mother's yearnings and my father's precepts have 
passed ever before me in the silent watches of the night. The 
old homestead and the ancient family-altar, and the rooms 
hallowed all over by prayer, and the grave of him who, while 
living, compassed about as he was by'poverty and affliction, 
yet served and honored God with the constancy and purity 
and firmness of a martyr and a saint; and the calm, mild eyes 
and countenance of her, full of meekness and faith and piety, 
who yet lives to bless and pray for me, have fenced me all 
around as with a wall of fire, and guarded me even when I 
knew and felt it not. Yet in all this have I not seen God — 
visibly, palpably, seen and felt him as my God and Redeemer. 
Religion has ever been to me a thing belonging to the future, 
a something some day to be sought after, certainly to be sought 
after, but — to-morroiv. That morrow never came : there was 
no such thing in all God's creation to come : and I knew and 
realised it not these many years, fool that I was. To-morrow 
was ever one day in advance. Yesterday, this day was the 
morrow. It came, but it was no longer the morrow, but to- 
day, with all its terribleness, and it was all that belonged to 
me. And yet hardened I my heart; and having eyes, saw not, 
and claiming intelligence, realised not so plain a truth. But 
I bless God that for some time past, unconsciously at first, 
almost without my consent till it was too late to resist, I have 
been drawn, I know not how — not by power nor by might, else 
my proud spirit had rebelled, but by easy and insensible ap- 
proaches — I dare not say by grace — to think more and more of 
the o-reat concevn, the future of the immortal part of my nature. 
Not in the earthquake and the storm and the rending of the 
rocks, but in the midst of health, and mercies and blessings 



496 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

more in number than the hairs of my head, a still, small voice 
has whispered day and night, at home and abroad, in solitude 
and amid the cares and anxieties of business, the hour is come, 
the accepted time, the convenient. For the first time in my life 
I have listened, unwittingly in the beginning, cheerfully, 
pleasurably now, to these whisperings. What it is that has 
moved me I know not : I have never felt before as I now do 
feel ; and for the first time in four-and-thirty years of a life- 
time of carelessness and sin, I am resolved by God's grace 
and assistance, not my own — I am nothing, less than nothing, 
and vanity — to make religion an immediate peesoxal con- 
cern from this day so long as I do live. (As I write this last 
sentence I hear the voice of prayer from a pious clergyman 
whose study, I just learn, is over my office where I now write. 
I accept the omen, if the word be allowable ; if not, may God 
forgive me.) In all this I know I can of myself clo nothing 
save to ash, seek, and knock, according to the Saviour's com- 
mand and promise. I have no self-righteousness to urge, no 
merits of my own, none, none. These in the expressive lan- 
guage of the Holy Scriptures are but 'rags, filthy rags ; ' and 
if he was thrust out who came to the feast not in rags, but 
only without the ' wedding-garment,' how should I hope to 
gain admittance in such wretched attire ? I know that I am 
a sinner, and that the thoughts and intents of my heart (I feel 
it even now while I write) are evil in all things, and that 
continually. But I shall ash, seeh, and hnoch with a firm but 
very humble reliance on the merits of the Saviour, His atone- 
ment and intercession, and not doubting the many promises 
Avhich He has everywhere given in all His word. I would not 
be over-confident. As yet I can find assurance of nothing 
about me except only the desire to looh into these things, and to 
have religion brought home to me personally, and that without 
delay. In the meantime I would by God's grace and assist- 
ance set a guard upon all my actions, my words, and that 
which is most difficult of all, my thoughts, the very lairs and 
coverts of sin. I would do all, speak all, think all for the 
glory of God as my first and chiefest motive. And praying 
to Him humbly but fervently as prayer ever came from 
human lips, first for pardon of past sins and then for grace 
and assistance in the future, I do greatly desire and long to 
henceforward live 'soberly, righteously, and godly while in 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. ' 497 

this present world, using tlio things thereof as not abusing 
them, remembering always that the fashion thereof passeth 
away/ and to make it the great rule of my life to be diligent 
in business, fervent in sjiirit, serving the Lord. And may God 
write this as with a pen of iron upon the tablets of my heart, 
and grant me grace to remember and conform to it all the days 
of my appointed time, and when heart and flesh fail me, pro- 
vide then for me a mansion in that house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. 

" JNIany things combined while as yet I knew it not, to 
bring mo to think upon this great subject : association and 
conversation with a truly excellent and pious pastor, a young 
man like myself, just after my own heart save in sin, coming 
up to the full stature of the true man both in intellect and 
soul, and made in Nature's noblest mould, a friend and a com- 
panion ; I wish you knew him, my dear brother. A series of 
powerful, eloquent, and outspoken sermons upon the doctrines 
of the Bible, calling me back to recollect that I had been bred 
a Calvinist, which I had forgotten at the same time that I 
ceased to remember that I was a sinner. The birth of my 
dearly beloved and only son, mellowing and softening and en- 
larging my heart till its waters of affection, long hidden be- 
neath the hardened and liardcning rock of childlessness, 
welled up like streams gushing from a coj)ious and perennial 
fountain. The interest which 1 felt in the concern manifested 
by my dear sister, Ellen Bell, for the salvation of her soul. 
The solemn reflection that of all my family / alone have wor- 
shipped not in spirit and in truth the God of my fathers for 
so many generations. The love I bear my dear mother, and 
her meek and sorrowful look of solicitude and yearning when, 
last I saw her essaying to speak to me as I well knew on this 
momentous subject, though her heart failed her and she was 
sileut, but silent in such a sort that jncrced tlirough and tlu'ough 
my heart dce])er and more powerful than any words : these 
and many other things of lesser note, all contributed to turn 
my thoughts to tliis great concern. What the end shall be I 
know not. Pkay for me, my brother. 

" The wonderful revival in your charge lias excited great 
interest everywliere (indeed I forgot to enumerate it among 
one of the chief causes which have led me to think of religion 
as an immediate personal concern). In no place has it been 

32 



498 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

more spoken of than hero. Much interest has been felt for a 
week or two j^ast in this church. A series of meetings, salu- 
tary and blessed to many, have been held, and not a few added 
to the church. I have not attended these special meetings, not 
so much for want of time (though more than usually thronged 
just now with business) — there is always time; but you know 
my old prejudices, partly inherited, partly the result of obser- 
vation, against set efforts for a revival, because of the danger 
of their degenerating into mere animal excitement, which pass- 
ing away, leaves the church an hundredfold colder than before, 
and those who had been alarmed into feeling, infinitely, miser- 
ably worse and nearer perdition than if they had never heard 
of the Gospel. I write to you freely, my dear brother, for you 
at least will not misinterpret me. I believe, however, that in 
your churches it was a power from on high — nothing less 
than the Almighty arm ; and I know your views too well to 
suppose for a moment that any mere human appliances were 
resorted to. And just the same I can say here and in the case 
of Mr. Brookes. And besides I am not used to feel the tender 
•emotions of the soul in public crowds. I am a quiet man in 
my feelings, and it is only in the solitude and retiracy of my 
closet that they flow out in genial, gushing streams — or among 
a few select and well-tried friends and the bosom of my family. 
But I may err in all this, and say no more. 

" I have time to add but a few words more upon general 
matters. We rejoice in the health and general prosperity of 
yourself and family. We unite in cordial and earnest love to 
all. Ellen Bell, who feels and is resolved just like myself, 
especially desires to be remembered. Write to me immediately. 
We are all well, and our dear babe is everything we could 
desire. 

" Farewell. Your truly affectionate brother, 

" Clement. 

"Rev. J. L. Vallandigham, New Ark, Delaware." 

" P. S. — I have greatly prospered this fall in my profes- 
sional avocations, and I bless God that I feel now like laboring 
in them with a calmer mind and from yet loftier motives, and 
with more determined e£fort than ever, yet always fervent hi 
spirit, serving the Lord." 

We have given this long letter in full because of its great 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 499 

value and importance as an exposition of the religious views 
and feelings of the writer. 

A few days after he wrote on the same subject to his 
mother. This letter she immediately sent to her eldest son 
with this brief note : 

"February 16. 

"Dear James: — I liave read with much j)leasure and 
thankfulness your letter in the Presbyterian,^ and pray the 
Lord that you may still continue to give the praise and glory 
of this great work to Him who worketh and none can hinder. 
I do earnestly jjray that the dear people may be steadfast in 
the faith, always abounding in the work of the Lord. You 
w^ill perceive from the letter accompanying this that I have 
still more abundant cause of thankfulness : indeed my heart 
overflows with gratitude, and my eyes with tears, and I am 
continually saying, ' What shall I render to the Lord for all 
His mercies to me?' I am so weak I cannot write more. I 
am just recovering from a very bad cold that has confined me 
to the house, and most of the time to my room, for several 
weeks. Your very affectionate 

" Mother." 

The following is the letter to his mother : — 

" Dayton, Feb. 12, 1855. 

"3fy dearest, dear Mother: — If it were at all convenient, T 
would with infinite pleasure go at once to see you. I have ten 
thousand things to say and to talk about, of Avhich time and 
space would fail me to icrite; but the sum of all is, that 
whereas I was blind, noio I see — and I feel a peace and 
joy which the world never gave, and which I know and am 
ASSURED it cannot take away. 

" The day I mailed that letter to you I erected an altar to 
God in my household, and henceforward relying upon Divine 
assistance, the morning and evening sacrifice shall daily be 

offered up throughout my lifetime I could say much, 

very much; but you will understand me. No arm of flesh, 
and least of all my own might, has done this. But I have not 
time to "write more now, as I am very busy ; and yet I do very 

* Giving an account of the revival. 



500 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

greatly rejoice that in the very midst of it all, and while I am 
diligent in business more than ever, I am fervent also in sijirit, 
with a very earnest desire in all things to serve the Lord in 
spirit and in truth, and with very humbleness of soul. 

" Your own son, 

" Clement. 

"Mrs. K. Vallandigham, New Lisbon, Ohio." 

On the same day he wrote again to his brother James. 
After referring to some other matters, he thus writes : — 

" As to that other great subject of which I wrote, my feel- 
ings are such as I could not portray to you in less than many, 
many pages of paper, or hours and days of conversation ; but 
the sum of all is — a 2'>cnce <^nd joy which the icorld never gave, 
and which, God he praised, I feel and am assured it cannot 
take away. The day after I wrote to you I erected an altar to 
God in my own household, and by His blessing, the morning 
and evening sacrifice shall daily be offered up so long as I do 
live; and in a like spirit, a spirit hy His aid, shall all 
my other duties be performed. I feel now as if by God^s grace 
I were at length a whole imax, made really in his image, and 
able now io do some good truly in the Church and the world. 
Oh that this exultant glow of soul might continue ! But you 
know my sole reliance j and I hope and believe it may; for 
diligent now more than ever in business, I feel yet fervent in 
spirit, desiring in all things to serve the Lord." 

In the spring of 1855 he united with the First Presbyterian 
Church of Dayton, of which the Rev. James H. Brookes, D. D., 
was then pastor. In the follo-sving letter, dated St. Louis, 
Sept. 14, 1871, Dr. Brookes refers to the events of that period, 
and gives his estimate of the Christian character of Mr. Val- 
landigham : — 

" Before my personal acquaintance with him in the 
year 1854, I had heard of him as an able, ambitious and 
unscrupulous politician. Soon after my arrival in Dayton 
to take charge of the Fu'st Presbyterian Church of that city, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 501 

he called upon me, but I received him with a coolness to which 
he afterwards pleasantly referred, saying that he saw at a 
glance the unfavorable impression I had received of his char- 
acter. Subsequently he told me frankly and freely the story 
of his life, his early struggles, his hopes, his aims, and his 
fixed jmrpose to follow the path of duty in his jjolitical career 
Avithout the smallest sacrifice of j)rinciple and without leaving 
the slightest stain upon his conscience. He did not profess to 
be indiiferent to popular applause, but ever avowed an 
unfaltering determination to stand alone if need be, and if need 
be to die, in maintaining what he believed to be right; and 
often he would quote with admiration the words of Cardinal 
Wolsey : 

'Be just and fear not: 
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, 
Thy God's, and truth's ; then if thou fallest, O Cromwell, 
Thou lallest a blessed martyr.' 

"He was bright and genial and winning in his manner 
and our acquaintance soon ripened into close and confidential 
intimacy, which threw us together almost daily when he was at 
home. I do not recall during that entire period a .word 
that fell from his lips which would have been unseemly if 
uttered in the presence of the most refined lady. No obscenity 
nor profanity ever defiled his tongue, and he was free from 
what are called the ' smaller vices,^ abstaining even from the 
use of tobacco in any form. 

" About a year after our intimacy commenced he became a 
Christian, and under circumstances that are worthy of mention. 
A series of doctrinal discourses had been delivered in which 
high Calvinistic ground was taken with regard to the absolute 
sovereignty of God's electing love and the utter depravity and 
helplessness of man. The discourses excited considerable op- 
position, and even on the part of some who were members of 
the church ; but greatly to my surprise and gratification, your 
brother announced that they had been the means of leadlno" 
him to see his ruin by nature and his need of Christ. From 
that time until I left Dayton he was a consistent and faithful 
Christian so far as I know, although continually exposed to 
the shafts of the most cruel slander. Often have I kno-svn 
him to lead in public ])rayer, and family worship was main- 
tained in his household up to the time of our separation. 



502 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

With his subsequent religious life I am not familiar, save that 
during the war while I was his guest for two weeks, every 
morning and evening God's word was read, and we kneeled 
together in prayer. Only a tew months since I received a 
pleasant fraternal letter fi*om him, and was looking forward to 
a promised visit to St. Louis, when he was so unexpectedly 
summoned away from the turmoils of earth and the bitter 
strife of tongues. 1 send you this as a little wreath I would 
love to droD in his grave." 

After being connected vdth this church for some years, and 
l^romising, according to the testimony of Dr. Brookes, to be a 
very useful member, Mr. Vallandigham quietly withdrew. 
The correspondence that ensued between him and the session 
of the church is in our possession, but we do not deem it 
necessary to publish it. It is sufficient to say that political 
proscription was the cause, the sole cause of his withdrawal. 
His opinion was — and he adhered to it most firmly, and as 
we think correctly — that politics should be strictly excluded 
from the puli^it, should be kept entirely out of the church ; 
that the members, without regard to the political sentiments 
which they might respectively hold, should treat each other 
with Christian courtesy, should love each other with fraternal 
affection, and that in the church at least, like brethren they 
should " dwell together in unity." That this withdrawal from 
the church of his choice, the church of his ancestors for many 
generations, was exceedingly painful to him we know from 
conversations we had with him at the time, and from letters 
now in our possession written to his relatives and intimate 
friends. 

He afterwards attended, sometimes the Episcopal and some- 
times the Lutheran church. For some four or five years he 
sat under the ministry of Eev. D. Steck, pastor of the Lutheran 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 503 

church of Dayton, whose letter containing recollections and 
incidents of that period we here present : — 

" Rev. James L. Vallandigham : 

" Dear Brother : — It affords me sincere pleasure to learn, 
as I do from your note, that you are engaged in preparing a 
biography of your brother, the late Hon. C L. Vallandigham. 
You suggest that, as it was my privilege during my residence 
in Dayton to know him somewhat intimately, I might have 
some impressions in regard to his character to communicate, 
with a view to aid you in the Avork you have in hand. Any 
statements bearing upon his religious character, I am led to 
believe, would be especially acceptable. My mind recurs to 
some very pleasant incidents, in the light of which it is not 
difficult to perceive, to some extent at least, what Mr. Vallan- 
digham was in this aspect of- his character. 

"My personal acquaintance with your honored brother 
began in the fall of 1864, when he became a regular attendant 
upon the services of the church of which I was at that time 
the pastor. I had known him jireviously, but only in a gen- 
eral way, just as I knew other public men. I remained in 
Dayton a little over four years from the date here given. During 
all this time it was his habit, as often as the Lord's day occurred, 
to be in his place in the house of God. He was an at- 
tentive and deeply interested hearer of the preached word, 
while his whole bearing and demeanor during worship were 
so modest, humble, and devout as to make him in this respect, 
as he was in many others, a model of propriety. Interested as 
he was in the great questions which concerned the j)ublic wel- 
fare, and engaged as he often was in sharp but manly conflict 
with men holding views opposite to his own, yet was he 
not so absorbed in these matters but that he found time, as he 
also had the taste, to attend to the humbler things which con- 
cern religion. 

" Mr. Vallandigham was an excellent theologian as well as 
a great lawyer and eminent statesman. And was he not the 
greater as a la^vyer and statesman because of his excellence as a 
theologian ? He was well versed in all the great questions which 
have divided Christendom, and, though decided in his own 
views, lamented as all good men do the bigotry of sectism 
and the babel of denominational tongues. He was especially 



504 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

well versed in the Bible, a fact made sufficiently obvious bj 
the many graceful and striking allusions to its contents ex- 
hibited in his speeches. These gems were mixed up in the 
vast fund of his intellectual wealth in such a May that they 
came forth spontaneously with the general current of his 
thought, because as the result of early education and persever- 
ing habit they had become, so to speak, a necessary part of his 
mental being. He prized the Bible not only on account of its 
literary beauties, but because he believed it to be the "Word of 
God, and as such, the rule by Avhich every man should regulate 
his life. It was my privilege to converse M'ith him very often 
on Scriptural topics, and on these occasions I never failed to be 
impressed with his sincere and deep reverence for the Holy 
Book. The Sermon on the jNIount was held by him in special 
re^-ard. On account of their profundity he greatly admired 
the Epistles of Paul. Calling on him one day when he was' 
at leisure, our conversation was of the character here indicated, 
when he directed my attention to Paul's exhortation to Chris- 
tians — they should 'live soberly, riglitcoushj, and godJy in 
this present world.' ' What a comprehensive precept ! ' said he ; 
< it is an epitome of man's whole duty : his duty to himself — 
he is to live soberly ; his duty to his followmen — he is to 
live righteously ; his duty to his God — he is to live godly.' 
It was a beautiful exposition, and the simple earnestness with 
which it was given — and he was the most earnest man I ever 
knew — fascinated and charmed me as I listened. 

" INIr. Vallandigham, as I knew him, was a very correct 
man, morally speaking — a perfect gentleman ; and if this ex- 
pression means no more than it ordinarily passes for, much 
more than a gentleman. I have met him when alone ; I have 
sat with him in the family circle at his own hearth-stone; I 
have seen him in the social gathering where he was ' the ob- 
served of all observers ; ' and I have, in a few instances, met 
him on occasions of great public interest and excitement ; and 
his conduct was always that of a high-toned gentleman, so en- 
tirely master of himself that he seemed to be under no temp- 
tation to transgress the rules of propriety in any particular. 
On intimate terms with him for more than four years, I never 
once heard a profane or obscene word from his lips. 

"Some two years before I left the city of Dayton the family 
of LIr. Vallandigham were greatly afflicted in the death of a 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 505 

near relative, Miss Belle McMahon, a sister to Mrs. Yallandig- 
hara, and a most amiable and every way excellent Christian 
lady. For many weeks previous to her release from the body 
she had been a great sufferer. During this time it was my 
duty as it was my privilege to appear many times at the bed- 
side of her who was sick, to do, by prayer and religious con- 
versation, what by the blessing of God I could to prepare her 
mind for the end which all perceived was drawing near. I 
had thus an opportunity to look at the character of Mr. V. as 
it appeared under affliction, for no member of the family sym- 
pathised more deeply with the sufferer than he. He not only 
did all in his power to soothe her bodily pains, but he took the 
deepest interest in her spiritual welfare. When she became 
despondent, as she sometimes did, and expressed doubts as to 
the question of her acceptance, he would sit by her bed-side, 
and like a true brother, read to her some appropriate lesson 
from the Word of God. Then he would speak to her of the 
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Clu'ist, and thus 
endeavor to dispel her despondency. On more than one occa- 
sion he had me to call at his office, when he would, in the 
most feeling manner, state to me the substance of his inter- 
views with her. Sometimes he read for her the service for the 
sick in the Book of Common Prayer, at other times some por- 
tion of the Scriptures, the book and chapter of which he would 
mention to me. My last interview with this excellent lady took 
place when she was near her end, and felt herself that she was 
dying. The scene Avas very solemn and affecting. As I entered 
the chamber of the dying Christian, Mr. V., the family, and a few 
invited friends, were standing around her bed attending to her 
last requests. As I approached, her eye fell upon me, and she 
said, ' Mr. S. has come; let the conversation be suspended, and let 
us once more have prayer.' Her request was complied with. 
Prayer, the last prayer, was made. It was a touching occasions- 
all were bathed in tears. When we rose from our bended 
knees Mr. Vallandigham was overcome by his emotions, and 
retiring to an adjoining room, gave vent to his feelings and 
wept like a child. I had heard him when by his powers as an 
orator he swayed vast multitudes of people as I have never 
seen them swayed by any other man ; but when, on this sad 
day, I saw him bow in tearful submission to the call which was 
summoning a dear one hence, the man I rather admired than 
loved before, I now both admired and loved. 



506 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" Mr. Vallandigliam was a firm believer in the doctrine 
that ' the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men ; ' and this 
fact, he often said to me, made him strong in the belief that 
our country, under Providence, would yet some day emerge 
from all the confusion and trouble under which it was strug- 
gling, and move on to a grander position in the scale of 
national greatness than it had hitherto attained. 

" With these hastily sketched incidents and reflections ; with 
the highest regard for the name and character of the honored 
dead ; with the hope that in passing from the exciting scenes 
of earth he has been translated to the Father's house of many 
mansions ; and with the prayer that the memorial volume you 
are about to publish may prove a blessing to all who shall read 
its pages, and througli them to the land its subject loved so 
well, permit me to subscribe myself, 

" Sincerely yours, 

" D. Steck. 
" Middletown, Md., Nov. 20tli, 1871." 

The following letter, written by Mr. Vallandigham to his 
sister Margaret on the occasion of the death of her husband, 
exhibits alike his kind sympathy and Christian faith : — 

"Dayton, Ohio, Dec. 12, 1869. 
" Mrs. 31. E. Robertson, Neio Lisbon, Ohio : 

" 3Iy Bear Sister : — I was absent in another county, in the 
midst of the trial of an important case, when Mr. Gilman's 
dispatch came announcing Mr. Robertson's death. 

" I -NATite now to assure you of my deepest sympathy with 
you and yours in this great bereavement. I feel sure that, 
though sorrowing, it is not as one without hope. In a little 
while we shall all follow, and, I trust and believe, be reunited 
with the many dear and loved ones whom we now mourn, but 
who have only preceded us to those mansions in the skies where, 
purified and perfected spirits, we shall meet again and dwell 
together forever, where the eye sheds no tear, the bosom heaves 
no sigh, the heart swells not with secret grief, and no sorrow 
ever comes. For surely it is a reality — but if a delusion, yet 
one to which I would fondly cling (associated as it is with 
earliest and most cherished memories of sainted father and 
mother) till heart and flesh fail me -::7 that 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 507 

' There is a land of pure delight 
Where saints immortal reign; 
Infinite day excludes the night, 
And pleasures banish pain.' 

" In this faith died all of our household, and of the house- 
holds for generations wherever we have inherited family and 
name ; and let us cherish it with an unfaltering trust till we 
too shall lie down in the dust. I have long since ceased to 
look upon death with any sensation of terror, and like the 
patriarch Job, say daily, ' All the days of my appointed time 
will I wait till my change come.' So let it be with all of us. 
You remember the beautiful poem of Mrs. Hemans, 'The 
Graves of a Household.' A like fortune has been ours who 
in childhood grew up so lovingly together ; yet shall we meet 
together again, young and old, glorified spirits, in the ' house 
not made with hands, eternal and on high.' 

"Comfort yourself, therefore, my dear sister, under this 
great affliction, and may the Father of all mercies be very 
gracious to you. 

"We are all well, and unite in much love to you all. 
" Very affectionately, yom* brother 

" Clement." 

The above letter was, last August, published in the Dayton 
Ledger. Its publication was accompanied with some editorial 
remarks which, coming from one who was long and intimately 
acquainted with Mr. Vallandigham, and because of their 
intrinsic excellence, we insert in this volume. Speaking of the 
letter, he says : — 

" It exhibits one of the most beautiful traits in Mr. Vallan- 
digham's private character as we knew him, and as he appeared 
among friends and relatives. Besides, in view of the recent 
death of Mr. Vallandigham himself, it now possesses a peculiar 
and mournful interest, aside from the touching tenderness and 
manly sympathy which it shows for the distress of a bereaved 
sister. It exhibits too, and confirms to the world, what the 
writer of this during a long acquaintance with Mr. Vallandig- 
ham, extending over a period of almost twenty years and 
embracing his most active political life, had often observed in 



508 LIFE OF CLEMEI^T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

him, namely: that a deep vein of actual piety and firmly 
seated religious conviction entered into Mr, Y.'s composition, 
and seemed to be part of his being. "We know, too, that the 
leading maxims of his life were drawn from scriptural read- 
ings, M'ith which his speeches and conversations^ unconsciously 
to himself as it were, plenteously abounded. By the outside 
world, who only knew Mr. Vallandigham at a distance or 
observed him carelessly, and that too often through the dis- 
torted medium of personal or political prejudices, this fact 
would scarcely be credited. But we appeal to his recorded 
speeches and writings for the evidence. We never knew a 
man in our life who was more thoroughly permeated in his 
private convictions ^cith the j^hflosojihy of the Bible than Mr. 
Vallandigham. Nor did we ever know a more thorough 
Biblical scholar. Unconsciously to himself, this kind of learn- 
ing not only furnished him a rule of life but pervaded his 
sentiments and philosophy — not in a narrow, sectarian sense, 
but in broad, liberalising, humanitarian and charitable prin- 
ciples, free from the dogmatisms of creeds or the hypocrisy of 
empty professions. Mr. V.'s religion was innate with him. 
It was both a sentiment and a principle, and we believe that he 
himself was unconscious of the strength of that element in his 
own nature, or of the firm texture that it gave to his character 
in all other things. INIore firmly than any other man that we 
ever knew, he believed that there was a right side and a wrong 
side to everything ; that God ruled the world and provided for 
the ultimate triumph of the right with the same certainty with 
which He had set the seasons or fixed the laws o.f gravitation. 
Hence his conduct on every question was always guided by fixed 
and deliberate convictions, and hence too the amazing energy 
and unswerving, inspiring faith with which he always clung 
to and maintained them. To us therefore who knew him so 
well, there is one sentence in the letter which Ave now give to 
the public, which above all others confirms the estimate we 
ever had of him, and throws a flood of light not only on the 
utter fearlessness of his character, but explains the high and 
unfailing sources of it — how little terror death had for him, 
and how thoroughly he had come to contemplate it with the 
calmness of a philosopher and the resignation of a Christian. 
Speaking in this calm faith of the immortality of the soul, and 
of the blessed hopes hereafter, says Mr, Vallandigham : — 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 509 

" ' For surely it is a reality In this faith died all 

of our household, and of the households for generations Avhcre- 
ever we have inherited family and name ; and let us cherish it 
with an unfailing trust till we too shall lie down in the dust. 
/ have long since ceased,' says he, 'to look iipon death icith any 
sensation of terror, and like the jjatriarch Job, say daily, "All 
the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change 
come." So let it be with all of us.' 

" Here, indeed, is and was the key to Mr. Vallandigham's 
whole character. He believed in God, and in his own destiny 
in the hands and under the guidance of that Supreme Being. 
How little, then, could the persecutions and the revilings 
Vfhich he suffered in his life, aifect him, or break or intimidate 
his noble spirit ! And how clearly, and loudly, in the midst 
of all of them, in his speech of January 14, 1863, rang out his 
manly and almost God-like defiance : 

"'Do right; and trust to God, and the truth, and the people! 
Perish office! Perish honors! Perish life itself; but 
do the thing that is right, and do it like a man ! ' 

" Such, indeed, was ]\Ir. Vallandigham — of the stuff that 
the ancient martyrs were made of — whether grappling with a 
remorseless, overpowering, despotic Administration, or wrest- 
ling in the sanctity of private life with a great affliction, and 
comforting those who leaned on him for sympathy and pro- 
tection — still turning to his faith like the needle to the pole, 
and reiterating his trust in ' God, and the truth, and the people.' 
Verily, we shall never see his like again ! " 

The three following letters we present in further illustration 
of ]\Ir. Vallandigham's Christian character. 
To his brother James : — 

"Dayton, O., Dec. 6, 1855. 
"... I have a few choice theological and religious books, 
but the Bible is almost my only study of this sort. The more 
I read it, and the more I reflect upon it and upon religious 
subjects, the more I am satisfied that the nearer we keep to it, 
and the further from books of man's invention and device, 
even if true and sound, yet but mere dilutions of its God- 
revealed teachings, the nearer we are to the truth. 1 find 



510 LIFE OF CLEMEI^T L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

this especially true in regard to professed books of devotion 
and practical piety, many of them utterly erroneous, or miser- 
ably weak. I find that every man assumes his own notions 
and experiences, colored as they must be by his temperament, 
education, time of life, and a thousand other circumstances, 
as the only true standard, and hence there are just as many 
standards as authors and books, and no two alike. And but 
for the Bible, ' the sure word of prophecy,' I should have been 
driven to the verge of skepticism, in the midst of this mass of 
jargon and inanity, and too often mere cant. Hence I have 
ceased to look into them, and turn again and again, and yet 
again, with fresh and infinite delight to the waters of that river 
of life pure as crystal, flowing from the one perennial and un- 
varying fountain of God's most holy word. Here I find rivers 
of pleasure forcvermore. And I cannot consent to drink of 
the bitter and muddy ditches and drains which have been filled 
therefrom afar off, when I may drink at the original fountain 
of the water of life, and thirst for none other. And I think 
if we had less mere sermonising, and more exposition of the 
Scriptures in the pulpit, it would be much better. Indeed I 
think that after the canon closed, it was the chief and original 
office of the ministry to expound the Bible. But I take the 
u-lioh Bible from Genesis to Revelation, not a particular book 
in it, or part of it, least of all a particular text, whereon to 
build a system of faith or rules of practice; but 'all Scripture' 
— Old Testament and New, the Pentateuch as well as the 
Epistles. Interpreting these all together, limiting, explaining, 
enlarging, illustrating one part by another, and by and with 
the volume of nature, I strive, by God's blessing, to attain as 
far as my poor faculties will admit, a full and true knowledge 
of what He would have me believe concerning Him, and what 
duty He requires of me. If I read one part more than another, 
it is the Psalms and the Gospels. But I could write a small 
book on these subjects, and lest I should weary you, stay my 
pen. (I prefer the old ^^^:iters on theology decidedly.) '^ 

To his mother : — 

"Dayton, Dec. 22, '55. 

" .... I shall depend on you meantime not to deny your- 
selves any necessary or comfort on my account, as the Lord 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHA^I. 511 

prospers me, and I am able to help you fully, and you know 
how willing. I have much, very much continually to be 
thankful for. Business returns again freely with the winter, 
and money of course with it. Health and prosperity continue 
with us on all sides, and ' our cup with goodness overflows.' 
I have lately been greatly honored and praised everywhere for 
the speech I made here in October. But I give God all the 
'glory,' and recognise in it renewed cause for thankfulness and 
gratitude and obedience. I rejoice, dear mother, that you re- 
member me daily. It is true that I am surrounded by temp- 
tations and full of engagements ; but these are only trials of 
our faith and steadfastness. These engagements, too, I recog- 
nise as so many duties, and strive to perform them in the fear 
of God. My purpose, relying wholly on Him for the strength 
and wisdom which come from above, is always * so to use the 
things of the world as not to abuse them.' Active and earnest 
pursuit of the lawful business of the world, ever mindful to 
give God the glory in all things, is perfectly consistent with the 
Christian walk and character, and indeed is a Christian duty. 
The Apostle Paul 2)ronounccs him who neglects it ' worse than 
an infidel' — one who denies the Saviour. , , It was in the. 
wilderness, too, and alone, that our Lord was tempted. What 
is required of us then is watchfulness and prayer — meaning by 
prayer not only 2>ctition, but all devotion and worship of God 
— a continual sense of His presence, and lifting up our heart 
to Him. It is not to be taken out of the world, but to be pre- 
served in the world from sin. * Diligence in business ' implies 
earnest and zealous attention to it: without this there is no 
success in it. King David managed the affairs of a great 
kingdom and raised it from feebleness to the highest pitch of 
splendor ; he was continually engaged in its multiplied and per- 
plexing concerns ; and yet he was adjudged perfect save in one 
matter only. I take the Bible and nothing but the Bible as my 
rule of faith and practice; and taking it, I would work every day 
in the discharge of the duties which devolve upon me as an 
inhabitant of earth as if I were to live for ever, and yet by 
God's blessing and grace live every day as though I was to die 
to-morrow. I regret indeed that my engagements sometimes 
interfere necessarily with some of the more outward and public 
exercises ; but not with the i)rivate and the secret devotions of 
the heart. God is every^vherCj and the heart can be lifted to 



512 LIFE OF CLEME>TT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

Him, and His presence be felt, in the court-room, tlie office, 
the legislative hall, and upon the street, as well as in the public 
sanctuary. While I am not so strict as some about what my 
judgment and conscience tell me is only the 'tithing of mint, 
anise and cumin,' I strive always strictly to observe all the 
'weightier matters of the law/ Yet after all I know that I am 
an unprofitable servant, and rely solely for strength, wisdom 
and guidance here, and salvation hereafter, upon the ' free 
grace ' of God and our Redeemer." 



To his mother : — 



"Daytox, Ohio, Feb. 7, 1856. 



'' My Dearest Ilother : — I have time only to enclose you a 
small present, which I trust will be acceptable. I have 
thought of you every day during this severe winter. It has 
reminded me of the old-fashioned winters of which I have 
heard you speak, and also of some winters which I remember 
of in my childhood. I hope you have been comfortable, and 
that all are well. My trust has been in our Father who is in 
heaven, who doeth all things well. His mercies and his kind 
providences have been very signal and infinite in number, and 
fill my heart continually with gratitude, causing me to exclaim 
with the Psalmist : * Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is 
within me, bless His Holy Name ! ' In his character of Crea- 
tor, Preserver, Benefactor and Pedeemer, he unites everything 
which calls for unceasing praise and thanksgiving. And these, 
in the midst of the business and cares and pursuits of every 
kind of this life, I desire to render at all times and in all 
places, striving to attain that perfection of life and character 
as drawn by 8t. Paul — ' Not slothful in business, fervent in 
spirit, serving the Lord — using the things of the world as not 
abusing them, remembering that the fashion thereof passeth 
away.' " 

The following letter from the Rev. Mr. Haight is in reply 
to one making inquiry as to his interview, or attempted inter- 
view, with ISIr. Vallandigham on his death- bed : — 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 513 

" Lebanon, Ohio, July 3, 1 8 7 1 . 
"Rev. J. L. Vallandigham: 

" Dear Brother : — I was with your lamented brother during 
nine hours of his sufferings, and saw him expire. I asked 
permission to say a feio words to him on the great question, 
having a strong desire to know his mind in vie\7 of the solemn 
realities he Avas approaching, but was not allowed to do so, as 
the doctors said absolute quiet was the only remaining hope in 
his case. Of course I differed with the medical gentlemen, 
but had to submit. About 3 o'clock on the morning of his 
death, as I was standing by his bed-side and wondering what 
his tlioyghts might be, and hoping they were busy with eternal 
things, he suddenly opened his eyes, and looking directly and 
fixedly into mine, said, in a distinct but somewhat labored voice, 
and with a cheerful expression, these words : ' I believe in our 
good old doctrine of jjredestination, and I think I will get 
through yet,' then closed his eyes and seemed to sleep. What 
did he intend to express by this? I have asked myself again 
and again. May we not reasonably believe that in these few 
words he gave his last testimony to the faith of Jesus as his 
fathers had taught him, and as he had, years ago, publicly 
professed? May we not hope and trust that during those 
twelve closing hours of his earthly existence, and with his 
faculties unimpaired, his old religious experience returned in all 
its freshness and vigor, full of joy and immortal hope? 

" It has been my lot to witness, in many instances, the last 
contest between humanity and death, but I have never seen 
more courage, patience and resignation than were exhibited in 
your dear brother's last hours. He apparently met death, as he 
had met every event in his eventful life — with his face to the 
danger, and undismayed. Yours very truly, 

" Jno. Haight." 

However gratifying it might have been to have heard from 
Mr. Vallandigham on his death-bed an expression of his 
views and feelings at that trying hour, it was not necessary. 
His religious experience as unfolded in the preceding letters, 
and the pure and stainless life he lived under circumstances 
exceedingly unfavorable to religious culture, and amid trials 
33 



514 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and temptations that would have driven many a man into utter 
apostasy, these sufficiently attest the genuineness of his piety, 
and are a rich source of comfort to his relatives and friends in 
their deep grief at his sad and sudden departure. 

AYe will close this chapter with an extract from a letter to 
his brother James, announcing the death of Miss Ellen Bell 
McMahon, his sister-in-law and a member of his family : — 

"Dayton, Ohio, July 19, 1867. 

" 3Iij dear Brother : — Poor dear Ellen Bell left us for home 
last night at five minutes past eleven. She died easy and 
happy, full of faith, hope, assurance. Her sufferings were 
protracted and severe, but she bore them all without a mur- 
mur or complaint, nor desired to live longer. It is a terrible 
trial, but Louisa bears up under it better than in any former 
trouble, sorrow-stricken as she is. 

" Poor Ellen will be buried to-morrow afternoon in AVood- 
land Cemetery, most beautiful among all the ' cities of silence,' 
alongside of our infant little boy, there to sleep sweetly; and 
where by-and-bye we shall join our dust to hers, sleeping too 
till ' this corruption shall put on incorruption, and this mortal 
immortality.' Till then ' all the days of my appointed time 
(here) shall I wait till my change come.' " 



CHAPTER XXII. 

HIS DEATH. 

"What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue! " 
Such was the exclamation of an eminent British statesman 
when he heard of the unexpected death of a distinguitTaed 
rivah And how forcibly is this truth exemplified in the 
sudden departure of Mr. Vallandigham ! Never was his 
health more vigorous than on the morning of the day on 
which the accident occurred, never his form more robust, nor 
his prospects of long life more promising; and never were 
his political prospects brighter — his prospects of honor, of 
eminence, of usefulness. 

Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, is a town of some four 
thousand inhabitants. It has been the home of some of Ohio's 
most eminent statesmen. Here lived Jeremiah Morrow, John 
McLean, and others whose names have attained a wide celebrity. 
Here lived and died one of the most remarkable men of our 
age, Hon. Thomas Corwin, a man whose jiowers of mind have 
never been properly appreciated. Here too, in 1825, died a 
favorite daughter of Henry Clay, and in the old Baptist 
burial-ground she lies buried. Referring to her death, a letter- 
writer from Lebanon many years ago beautifully says : " What 
a history of disappointed hopes and of the keenest sorrows 
would the heart-life of most of our great men unfold ! The 



516 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

path of glory is one bedewed with tears, and our greatest men 
are arrested by the providence of God in their schemes of 
earthly ambition. For six weeks did the great statesman 
Henry Clay tarry in Lebanon to watch over the decline 
and death of the flower of his heart ; and when he laid his 
blooming daughter among strangers, how did he feel the 
emptiness of human glory and the preciousness of the Chris- 
tian faith inscribed on the tablet to his daughter's memory ! " 
And here, on the 16 th day of June, 1871, whilst preparmg 
to make what he expected would be the greatest legal effort of 
his life, the fatal accident occurred which closed the mortal 
career of Clement L. Vallandigham. 

The case in which he was engaged was a very remarkable one. 
It originated in Hamilton, Butler County. On the evening of 
the 24th day of December, 1870, a large party of gentlemen were 
engaged in playing various games of cards in the saloon known 
as " The American," which is situated on High street, between 
First and Second streets, and directly opposite the court-house. 
Thomas Myers, who was murdered that night, after attending 
a meeting of the building association to which he belonged, 
went up into the upper room of the saloon, and soon became 
engaged in a game of faro. A little after eight o'clock, five 
men, among them Thomas McGehan, came up into the faro- 
room, and in a moment after they entered Myers was attacked 
with slung-shots and boulders suddenly and from behind. He 
immediately jumped to his feet and attempted to draw his pistol 
from his right side pantalooub' pocket ; he had some difficulty 
getting it out, and whilst in the act of drawing it, the muffled 
sound of a pistol-shot was heard. When he did get his j^istol 
out, it was evident he had been severely hurt. He had grasped 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 517 

Jack Garver (one of his assailants) the moment he arose, but 
his grip soon relaxed. He fell on the floor, but again arose, 
fired two shots, then fell again, and as he lay fired another 
shot ; but all these shots were aimless, and in a few moments 
he was a corpse. The afiray was so sudden, so frightful in its 
character, and the struggle so violent, that more than a dozen 
men whose minds were deeply intent upon their play, startled 
and utterly astonished, instinctively sought safety in flight. 
Tables and chairs were upset, the stove was knocked over, and 
in an instant a quiet room, where scarcely a voice had been 
heard, was changed into a perfect pandemonium. Tom 
McGehau was seen in the room during this terrible affi-ay by 
several persons, but no one saw him have a pistol, nor did any 
one pretend (except Jack Garver, who turned State's evidence) 
to have seen him engaged in any hostile demonstration. Yet 
because it was known that he had been on bad terms with 
Myers for years, although this was not shown on the trial, and 
on account of his well-known desperate character, the suspicions 
of the community immediately pointed to him as the instigator, 
if not the actual perpetrator of this terrible crime. Such was 
the terror of McGehan's name, however, that more than 
twenty-four hours passed before any movement was made to 
arrest him, or those supposed to be associated with him in the 
killing of Myers. After the parties accused were safely lodged 
in jail, the excitement of the community became very high. 
Although Tom Myers, the murdered man, had been a notorious 
rough, and had a very bad character for peace and quiet in the 
community, yet his family were popular and highly respected, 
and the horrible circumstances connected with his sudden and 
cowardly murder were well calculated to produce intense feel- 



518 LIFE OF CLEMEXT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

ing in any community. There Avas talk even of resorting to 
iynch-law. Fortunately better counsels prevailed, and on 
the Wednesday after the murder, which occurred on Saturday 
night, the preliminary investigation commenced before Squire 
Wilkins. This was attended with intense excitement, lasted 
several days, and the court-room was every day crowded to 
suffocation. The prejudice and animosity of the immense 
crowd were exhibited without reserve dm-ing the whole time ; 
and although the Justice endeavored to suppress any extra- 
ordinary manifestations of feeling, yet on several occasions 
testimony which bore heavily against McGehan was greeted with 
boisterous applause. Mr. Vallandighara, who had been early 
retained in the case, when he came to speak, denounced in elo- 
quent and fitting terms this unseemly conduct; but it was 
almost impossible to suppress its exhibition. The prisoners 
were all held for murder in the first degree, and bail of course 
refused. At the January term of the Court of Common Pleas, 
an indictment against all the parties charged was found for 
murder in the first degree. Soon after an application for a change 
of venue was granted by the court to McGehan, and the change 
was made from Butler County to Warren. At Lebanon, the 
county seat of Warren County, upon the 6th day of June, 
1871, the trial commenced. Judge Leroy Pope presiding. An 
immense array of counsel appeared both for the State and for 
McGehan, and great interest was manifested all over the 
country in the progress of the trial. By common consent of 
the counsel, several of them very able men, Mr. Vallandigham 
was given the chief management of the case for McGehan, and 
entered upon the discharge of his duty with the most intense 
ardor; his whole mind and soul, in fact, seemed wrapped up 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 519 

in this case. Mr. Vallandighani displayed more than ordinary- 
interest in this case not only because of its magnitude, not only 
on account of his duty to his client professionally, but further 
because remarks made by certain individuals as to his connec- 
tion with the case had angered him deeply and excited his 
mind to the highest degree. Of these remarks, now that the 
subject of them is no more, it is not necessary to speak ; they 
were made by men who had no connection with the case either 
for the prosecution or the defence, and who probably had no 
idea that they would ever reach his ear. The ability displayed 
by both sides in this remarkable trial was very great. For the 
State were arrayed Messrs. George E. Sage, J. F. Follett, S. 
Z. Gard (prosecuting attorney of Butler County), Kelley 
CNeill (prosecuting attorney of Warren County), M. N. 
Maginnis, S. C. Symmes, and P. H. Kumler ; for the defence, 
C. L. Vallandigham, Thomas Millikin, A. F. Hume, A. G. 
McBurney, J. A. Gilmore, J. S. Wilson, and James E. Neal. 
On Thursday the 15th of June, the evidence was closed; and 
the next morning Mr. J. F. Follett, of Cincinnati, commenced 
the opening argument for the State, and finished his able 
speech about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Vallandigham 
then made a very earnest effort to procure an adjournment so 
that his coadjutor, Thomas Millikin, could take up the time on 
Saturday, and so that he himself should be able to make his 
speech on Monday. After considerable discussion he was suc- 
cessful in making this arrangement. When this understanding 
was arrived at, IVIr. V. betrayed a satisfaction amounting to 
joy, in fact it put him in unusual good spirits, and never in 
the happiest days of his early life did he exhibit more lively 
feelings or more exuberance of animal spirits. Alas ! little 



520 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIQHAM. 

did he know, as with a smile uj)on his animated countenance 
and full of good humor, in company with some friends, he left 
the court-house, that this was the last evening he was destined 
to behold on earth.* 

From the interesting accounts contained in the Dayton 
Ledger, and Cincinnati Miquirer and Commercial, written and 
published at the time, we gather the following facts and inci- 
dents of the death and attending circumstances : — 

"Lebanon, Ohio, June 17, 1871. 

" He is dead ! Vallandigham dead ! What a world of 
meaning, what a wealth of pathos in these simple but terrible 
words ! The man whose name but a few days ago was on every 
man's tongue, and whose figure was the central one in American 
politics! What, dead? Vallandigham dead? It can not be! 
No ! Impossible ! It's a hoax ! What a pity ! &c. &c. Such 
were the exclamations to be heard on the street, in the street- 
cars, restaurants, hotels, and in fact everywhere that men as- 
semble this morning, when the first rumors of the terrible 
tragedy at Lebanon were Avhispered. For notwithstanding the^ 
fact that the dispatches in the morning papers stated that the' 
statesman had been but mortally wounded, and that the vital 
spark still animated the face and figure so well known through- 
out the length and breadth of his own Ohio, the rumor that he 
was already dead got abroad, and was passed from mouth to 
mouth and ear to ear long before the last scene of the tragedy 
was enacted in this quiet little city of the valley. 

"Vallandigham, Vallandigham, nothing but Vallandigham 
— his virtues, his courage, his policy, his aifection, his ability, 
his size, height, age, ajjpearance, everything, in short, connected 
with him, were the topics of conversation — mournful con- 
versation, throughout the city, the State, and the nation. 

* In the case of McGehan the jury empanelled at the time of Mr. Vallan- 
digham's death could not agree, and were discharged. Afterwards the 
case was removed to Montgomery County, and there tried, the jury bring- 
ing in a verdict of murder in the second degree. A motion for a new 
trial was granted, the result of which was a verdict of acquittal. This 
acquittal excited much indignation in Hamilton, where it was generally 
believed that he was guilty. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAITDIGHAM. 521 

" In the midst of this excitement this morning your corres- 
pondent left the city to visit the scene of the tragedy, with a 
view to learning all that was to be learned of the saddest in- 
cident in the history of the State. On the train, as elsewhere, 
the great overshadowing topic of conversation was the tragedy 
at Lebanon. Those who had already heard the announcement 
of the death, detailed it to eager crowds of listeners, male and 
female, and in every group of hearers there were suffused eyes 
and wet cheeks. And among these — to their honor be it said 
— were not a few of his political enemies, men who had op- 
posed and denounced him while living, but who, now that he 
was dead, freely expressed their admiration and respect for the 
many noble qualities of the great man whose high courage 
nothing hut death could quench. At Morrow I left the rail- 
road and took horse and buggy for this })lace. Not until this 
had I appreciated the widespread sensation that the news of 
the misfortune had created. In the cities and towns, and along 
the lines of the railroad and telegraph, it was but natural to 
expect the discussion of news fraught with such terrible mean- 
ing. Bnt to find men and women away out there, miles from 
railroad and telegraph, eagerly inquiring from every passing 
traveller the latest news from the distinguished victim of the 
tragedy, astonished me and gave me a new revelation of the 
sad importance and widespread effect of the sad event. All 
along the road we were besieged by men and women eager to 
learn the truth of the report, and when assured of the fact, to 
know all of the details. Staid old farmers would leave jilough 
in furrow, and good housewives desert kitchen and j)antry, to 
ask questions concerning the great event of the day. 

" Many of these, the majority in fact, had known the man 
only by reputation, and many of them had so known him only 
to hate him as the bold leader of the Ohio Democracy during 
the turbulent times of 1863 ; but the sombre shadow of the death 
angel's wing had wiped out the dividing lines of party, and 
united all in a common brotherhood of sorrow. 

" Arriving at Lebanon, we found that usually quiet little 
town in a state of intensely suppressed excitement. Great as 
was the excitement elsewhere, it was as nothing compared with 
that at Lebanon. From the time that the news of the fatal 
shot went abroad the night before, every man, woman and 
child in the little city had been talking of it, lamenting it, and 
discussing the chances of recovery and of death. 



522 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

'' The heart of the cosy village had been stirred to its deepest 
depths by the report of that pistol. And not only there had 
that shot been heard, but throughout the length and breadth of 
the continent it had echoed and re-echoed in mournful cadence 
from the Lakes to the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Ay, the echo of that shot traversed the Atlantic and echoed 
in the capitals of the Old World, and wherever it was heard 
carried with it a feeling of sadness and sorrow such as only the 
death of one of earth's greatest children could cause, 

"As soon as the news went abroad in the village, the inhabi- 
tants began to assemble about the Lebanon House and anxiously 
inquire the news from fatal room No. 15. All night long and 
during the weary hours of the morning the crowd remained in 
and about the hotel, and even after the sad announcement (at 
ten o'clock this morning) that the wounded statesman had 
ceased to breathe, they lingered and talked in whispers of the 
tragedy, and dwelt with sorrowful interest upon every detail of 
the terrible affair. It is indeed surprising how popular Mr. 
Vallandigham had become in the village. Coming here as he 
did with his anti-war odium upon him, and in the capacity of 
chief attorney for one whom the majority of the people believed 
to be a desperate and depraved murderer, Mr. Vallandigham 
was not received with cordial favor, nor welcomed as a guest 
who would do the town honor or reflect credit upon the com- 
munity. Before, however, the first week of the protracted trial 
had passed, the ability and professional courtesy of the lawyer 
had won the respect of Court and Bar, and the gentlemanly 
suavity and excellent social qualities of the man had secured 
the kindly regard of all the citizens with whom he came in 
contact. Believing firmly in the innocence of his client, McGe- 
han, he had entered into his defence with all the ardor of his 
nature, and fought his accusers step by step until the close of 
the evidence in the trial, and never until the fatal ball pene- 
trated his vitals did he for a moment allow his interest to slack, 
his watchfulness to flag, or his enthusiasm to cool. 

" During the delivery of Mr. FoUett's opening argument 
yesterday Mr. Vallandigham was busily engaged in watching 
the case, taking notes, and in the intervals prej^aring the great 
argument that he firmly believed would be one of the greatest 
efforts of his life, and one that would not only add to his fame 
as a great criminal lawyer, but result in the refutation of the 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 523 

theory of the State and the triumphant acquittal of his client. 
Mr. Vallandigham may have been too sanguine in thLs, but 
that he did entertain such opinions is abundantly evident from 
what he said to Mr. Williamson and other friends a few hours 
before the fatal shot was fired. Mr.Williamson occupied the next 
seat on Mr. Vallandigham's right at the supper-table last even- 
ing, and was engaged in animated conversation with him on the 
subject of the prospects of the case, the theories of the prosecution 
and defence, &c. He seemed to be in the best of spirits and per- 
fectly sanguine of victory. Upon Mr. Williamson's stating that 
he intended to go to his home at Loveland that night, Mr. Val- 
landigham urged him to stay until the end of the trial, and 
especially until after the delivery of his (Vallandigham's) argu- 
ment. During the afternoon and evening he had repeated this 
invitation to a number of acquaintances, ladies and gentlemen 
of the town. 

" His unusually good spirits and light-heartedness were no- 
ticed by many of his acquaintances. With a view to detaining 
Mr. Williamson until Saturday, he gave a half promise to ac- 
company that gentleman to his home in Loveland and spend 
the Sabbath. 'Frank Cozad,' said he, 'insisted upon my 
going with him, and I have partly promised to do so, but my 
inclination now is to go to Loveland and spend the Sabbath in 
visits to my good friends Bloss, Powell, and Tom Paxton. 
But,' added he, 'you remain and hear my argument any- 
how, and we'll settle the matter before it is time for you to 
start for home to-morrow night.' 

"He continued to exhibit evidences of good spirits and 
sanguine hope up to within a short time before the tragedy, 
when the receipt of a letter from his wife, stating that she had 
been summoned to the death-bed of her brother, Hon. Jno. V. 
L. McMahon, at Cumberland, Maryland, somewhat saddened 
him. 

"Alas ! how little did he while mourning his brother-in-law's 
death think that that same faithful sister and loving wife would 
within a few brief hours be notified of the still greater bereave- 
ment of her husband's death. Indeed, the heart-crushing 
agony that this delicate and affectionate woman is called upon 
to suffer is one of the most painful and touching of the 
features of this remarkable tragedy. 

" From your reporter in attendance at the McGehan trial, 



524 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

who was in Mr. Vail and igliam's room almost continually from 
the time of the shooting until the death struggle, I have 
obtained the following detailed account of the tragedy : 

" After taking supper, he procured from the landlord of the 
hotel a bit of white muslin cloth, perhaps a foot square, for the 
purpose of testing to his own satisfaction the question as to 
whether a shot fired from a pistol in close proximity to it 
would or would not leave a mark of powder upon it. Having 
provided himself with this, and put his pistol in his pocket, he 
and JMr. Millikin and Mr. Hume went out together to the 
south edge of town beyond the residence of Governor McBur- 
ney. Arriving there, they were joined by Mr. McBurney, 
and the trio became a quartette. 

" The pistol which he took with him for this purpose is a 
new revolver which he had purchased only a few days before 
coming to Lebanon. It is one of Smith & Wesson's manu- 
facture, with a four-inch barrel and five chambers, and carries 
a ball of 32-100 of an inch calibre. It is a beautiful weapon, 
handsomely though not elaborately ornamented, and its owner 
little thought, when so recently purchasing it, that it would so 
soon be the instrument of his untimely death. 

" Two shots were fired into the cloth, and all were satisfied 
with the result of the experiment, and started back to the hotel. 

" Mr. Millikin, ever cautious and thoughtful, said : 

" ' Val., there are three shots in your pistol yet. You had 
better discharge them.' 

" ' What for ? ' responded Mr. Vallandigham. 

" ' To prevent any accident,' replied the cautious attorney. 
* You might shoot yourself.' 

" ' No danger of that,' replied Mr. Vallandigham. ' I have 
carried and practised with pistols too long to be afraid to have 
a loaded one in my pocket.' 

" ' You had better be careful though,' said Mr. Millikin. 

" ' Never fear me,' was the reply. 

"They then slowly walked back toward the town, and, 
before they had reached the hotel, separated. 

" Arriving at the Lebanon House alone, Mr. Vallandigham 
was stopped on his way up stairs by the landlord, and a pack- 
age that had been left for him in his absence placed in his 
hands. That parcel contained another revolver — a weapon 
that had been exhibited at the trial in Court, and was not only 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAKDIGHAM, 525 

unloaded, but had had the chambers removed. Proceedino- to 
his room, he unwrapped the parcel, and at the same time taking 
his own weapon from his pocket, laid the two murderous 
instruments on the table, side by side. 

" A moment later, Mr. Scott Symmes, a young lawyer who 
has been connected with the prosecution of the case, passed 
the door. 

" ' Symmes,' said he, ^ Follett is mistaken. A man could 
easily shoot himself as Myers was shot. Come in and I will 
show how it's done.' 

" Thus invited, Symmes entered the room ; but a moment 
later, seeing Judge Pope coming up stairs, excused himself on 
the ground that he was going to Hamilton in the morning, and 
wished to see the Judge before he left. He passed out, and a 
minute or so afterward Mr. McBurney came into the room. 
Mr. Vallandigham, still standing by the table on which the 
pistols lay, said : 

" ' I'll show you how Tom Myers shot himself. Follett's 
mistaken when he says it can't be done.' Saying this he took 
up one of the murderous instruments in his hands, put it into 
his pantaloons pocket, and slowly drawing it out again, cocking 
it as he drew it forth, he attempted to place it in the exact 
position which he believed Myers' weajoon to have assumed at 
the moment the fatal bullet was sped on its mission of death. 
The muzzle of the weapon still within the lappel of the 
pocket, he brought it to an angle of about forty-five degrees. 
" ' There, that's the way Myers held it, only he was getting 
up, not standing erect.' Saying this, he touched the trigger. 

" A sudden flash — the half suppressed sound of a shot — 
and Clement L. Vallandigham, with an expression of agony, 
exclaimed: 'My God, Pve shot myself!' and reeled toward 
the wall a wounded and dying man — wounded and dying by 
his own hands. 

"This happened at the hour of nine o'clock, or perhaps five 
or ten minutes earlier. In a second of time Mr. McBurney, 
terrified at the occurrence, rushed out of the room and along 
the hall to the apartment where the jury was quartered. 
Rapping at the door, he eagerly demanded that some one should 
come into Mr. Yallandigham's room, as he had shot himself. 
Mr. Tischnor, the constable having them in charge, was mo- 
mentarily absent; but several of the jurors hui'ried into the 



526 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

room. Meantime INIr. J. C. Babbitt, whose room (No. 17) was 
only next door, liad heard the sound, and suspecting its cause, 
also came in. He arrived first and found Mr. Vallandighani 
alone leaning against the wall. He asked what had happened. 

" ' I have foolishly shot myself,' said the wounded man as 
he sank into a chair. 'What folly it was to try such an ex- 
periment ! By mistake I took up the wrong pistol.' The pistol 
had dropped from his hand at the moment he fired, and was 
still lying on the floor. The other one, empty and harmless, 
lay on the table. 

"A moment later, three or four jurors came in with Mr. 
McBurney, and found Mr. Vallandigham, with clothes opened, 
feeling along his abdomen in search of the bullet. He remained 
thus employed and explaining the mistake he had made for 
several minutes, when, growing faint, he was laid on the bed. 

" In the meantime messengers had been despatched for phy- 
sicians, and the intelligence got out in town, and instantly the 
streets were alive Avith persons hurrying to the hotel to ask the 
truth of the story they had heard. The halls were crowded, 
and the anxious, almost terror-stricken faces of the persons 
inquiring after the nature of the wound and the condition of 
the wounded >nan, made it apparent to the most casual observer 
that an occurrence of no ordinary character had just taken 
place. 

" The three reporters who were attending the trial for the 
Cincinnati morning papers were immediately on the scene, and 
upon learning the nature of the occurrence, sped the news on 
the lightning's wings to the journals they represented. An 
hour later the news of that occurrence was being heralded under 
the waves of the broad Atlantic to the people of the Old World. 

" There was some difficulty in finding a physician. Three, 
five, ten minutes elapsed after the departure of the messengers 
before a medical man appeared. This, too, at a time of sus- 
pense — a time when minutes became hours in their duration ; 
an occasion when time was measured by the heart's pulsations of 
a wounded man. At length, however. Dr. Scoville arrived, 
and following close after him Dr. Drake. An examination of 
the wound and a hurried consultation followed, and the prostrate 
man was informed that his injuries were of the most serious 
character, though they hoped that they might not prove to be 
fatal. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 527 

*' ' Has the ball been reached ? ' said he to the physicians. 

*' * No, it has not/ was the answer. 

" ' Has it entered a vital part ? ' 

"^We cannot tell.' 

" Closing his mouth with that firmness of purpose which so 
characterised him in everything, he expressed a wish that they 
would ascertain and tell him the worst feature that the case 
might present. 

" By the time the second quarter after nine had struck, the 
crowd of persons to the room of the wounded man was so 
great that guards had to be placed at the foot of the stairs below 
to refuse admittance to all but intimate personal friends. Mr. 
Vallandigham's condition was fast becoming worse, and the 
medical men were unable to reach the ball with any of their 
surgical appliances. The family physician, Dr. J. C. Reeve, 
of Dayton, was telegraphed to come at once to his bedside, 
while Dr. W. W. Dawson, of Cincinnati, had a similar sum- 
mons^ sent to him. The son, the law-partner, and several of 
the immediate friends of Mr. Vallandigham were advised of 
his condition and urged to come at once. His wife, who only 
a few hours before had started to Baltimore to be present at 
the burial of her brother, was telegraphed to, although his 
exact condition was concealed from her. Here was a case of 
life or death trembling in the balance, and science seemed to be 
powerless. 

" The patient at this time asked Mr. M. S. Williamson to 
remain with him and assist in moving him in his bed. Others, 
too, who were associated with him in his professional relations, 
were requested to stay by his side and help to alleviate his 
suffering. 

"At ten o'clock a telegram came that Dr. Reeve had started 
with the son of the wounded man, and that they would arrive 
by midnight. During the next hour the symptoms did not 
appear to change very materially. Frequent examinations arc 
made by the physicians, the wound is probed, the pulse is ob- 
served, the respiration taken, and finally the wounded man in- 
formed that he is in a very critical condition, and that if he has 
anything to say, or any arrangements to make, he had better 
lose no time. 

" ' Only rid me of this pain in the stomach and I'll be all 
right again,' is the rejoinder. The struggle of life with death 



528 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

has begun. Tlie might of man begins to combat with that of 
the destroyer of man. 

" From eleven to twelve o'clock frequent vomitings ensue 
and an increase of pain. Narcotics, which have been adminis- 
tered sparingly hitherto, are now doubled in the doses, and 
a sort of lethargy ensues. The hour of midnight finds the 
wounded man comparatively easy, but with accelerated pulse 
and frequent and short breathing. Soon after this he is moved 
to his right side, and a hemorrhage of blood follows, a hem- 
orrhage which results in a loss of half a pint of blood, and 
reveals the terrible nature of the wound. 

" A little past one Dr. Reeve arrives, accompanied by the 
son of the unfortunate man. The family physician enters, and 
with his practised eye, familiar with his patient, a conclusion 
is soon arrived at — the wounded man must die. 

" Mr. Vallandigham knew him and greeted hini cheerily. 
"'Doctor, is my wound as bad as' that of Jake Rapp?' 
referring to a man on whom the Doctor had attended, and who 
had recovered. 

" ' Yes, it is worse than t'hat.' 

" ' Or of Lambert ? ' referring to another and similar one. 

" ' No, not worse than Lambert.' 

" ' Well, if you can get this pain from my stomach, I will 
get along.' This with his peculiar smile of self-reliance. 

"At this juncture Mr. A^allandigham's son appeared and 
entered the room. On approaching the bedside of his father, 
tears filled the eyes of the young man, and there was a look 
of tender affection from those of the parent that bespoke the 
wealth of that parent's love. 

" Placing his hand on the head of his boy, he fondled for a 
moment the object of his love. ' Charley,' said he fondly, 'be 
a good boy.' After a short time he again turned to him, say- 
ing : ' You are tired ; you had better go to bed.' 

" Weeping, the young man was led from the room. 

"Here Dr. Reeve announced to his patient that he was 
soon going to administer some more opiates to him, and that 
if he had anything to say either in the way of messages to his 
friends or in relation to his business affairs, he had better do 
so now. All who were in the room left the wounded man 
with his physician, and their conference continued for ten or 
fifteen minutes. Of course what transpired then and there is 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 529 

entitled to the sanctity of privacy, and should not be made 
public even if we were able to do so. 

"From this time until four o'clock there was but little 
change in Mr. Vallandigham's condition. His breathing grew 
more labored, his pulse quicker, and at times he seemed to be 
in great pain. About two o'clock. Rev. Mr. Haight, of the 
Presbyterian church of the village, called, and was admitted. 
He asked the doctor if he might be allowed to speak a few 
Avords to the wounded man. ' No, I cannot permit it,' was 
the reply. 

" Mr. Vallandigham, casting a glance at the reverend gen- 
tleman, appeared to apj)reciate the object that prompted the 
visit. 

"■ Mr. Williamson here said : ' Mr. Vallandigham, I sup- 
pose you have been told that your case is very critical. You 
oughtn't to be discouraged, though, but keep your spirits up. 
That's half the battle.' 

" ' Yes,' answered the sufferer, closing his mouth with the 
old well-known exj^ression of determination, and speaking from 
between his clenched teeth, ' Yes, sir, it's all the battle.' He 
then closed his eyes, but in a few minutes opened them again, 
fixing his gaze steadily on Mr. Williamson's countenance, said 
in the same tone, but enunciating with difficulty : ' This may 
be all right yet. I may, however, be mistaken, but I am a 
firm believer in that good old Presbyterian doctrine of pre- 
destination.' In fact, from the beginning, the strong, deter- 
mined spirit of the man — the spirit that had carried him safely 
through many a well-known perilous complication, and done 
battle for the right on many a hard-fought field — defied ap- 
proacliing death, and fought inch by inch the grim spectre 
whose gaunt arms were already closing around him with fatal 
grasp. Said a gentleman who stood by his bedside during the 
whole of that awful ordeal : ' The man had determined, despite 
the bullet in his vitals, despite doctors' opinions, ay, despite 
fate itself, 770^ to die.' During all this time and up to with- 
in a few minutes of the final agony, he lay with compressed 
lips and closed eyes, and bore with the fortitude of an Indian 
chief the agonies of death. Not a groan escaped him, nor a 
word save in answer to a question, or when giving directions 
as to change of position. 

" At four o'clock a. m. the symptoms were thought to be 

34 



530 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

more alarming. Several friends of the -svouuded man, who 
had lain down to get a snatch of sleep, were roused up. The 
son appeared at the bedside again, the associates in trial now in 
progress, Judge Haynes, his professional partner Judge Mc- 
Kemy, and several other intimate personal friends who had 
arrived during the night, were grouped about the room and 
gathered around the bed. In the past two hours a very notice- 
able change had come over the appearance of the wounded 
man. His breathing was still more difficult, and he was man- 
ifestly fast losing strength. It was thought that his hour had 
come. The gray dawn of morning twilight was just giving 
way to the light of day. In the trees on the opposite side of 
the street might be heard the song of birds, and the sidewalks 
below were just beginning to resound to the footsteps of early- 
rising pedestrians. 

'• By the side of the bed, and fanning his father, sat young 
Vallandigham. At the foot sat the venerable Judge Smith ; 
on either side were his professional associates, Judges Haynes 
and McKemy, and Messrs. Hume, Millikin, and others. The 
sound of approaching Avheels was heard, and in a moment the 
physician Avho had been summoned from Cincinnati drove up 
to the door. A moment later he was in the room. He had 
driven twenty-eight miles through the dark in four hours, and 
found out that the patient he had come to see was beyond 
human power to save. He could only alleviate the suftering, 
not cure the malady of him whom he had come to see. 

" Five, six and seven o'clock Avere successively struck, and 
the strong man lay motionless, and seemingly almost insensible 
on the bed. Once or twice he muttered something that indi- 
cated that his mind was wandering, but at no time did courage 
seem to forsake him. It seemed to be a struggle for life, with 
the odds fearfully against it. 

" Shortly after seven o'clock Tom McGehan, the man Avhom 
he was here to defend, appeared under escort of an officer from 
the jail. The man charged with murder, who has always been 
represented as being cold and remorseless as the grave, could 
not repress his tears. They fell thick and fast, and, weeping, 
he was led from the room back to his cell. 

" Nearly at the same time McGehan's " wife and children 
were admitted to gaze u]3on the one whom they had hoped 
would be the deliverer of their father and husband, but who^, 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 531 

ill liis zeal for their cause, had taken his own life. This was 
one of the most affecting scenes of the day. 

" From about three o'clock this morning until the hour of 
liis death the patient seemed to suffer intense agony. Although 
partially under the influence of opiates, he was still conscious, 
and would readily answer the few questions addressed him by 
his friends and physicians. 

" About half-past nine o'clock, after an unusually violent 
struggle, the eyes began to grow glassy and the face to assume 
that rigidly infallible sign of death. He remained perfectly 
quiet in this position for about fifteen minutes, when, by a 
•sudden movement, the body stretched its full length in the 
bed, the eyes closed, and with a deej)-drawn sigh the dauntless 
soul deserted its tenement of clay, and C. L. Vallandigham 
was dead." 

The foregoing is from the Cincinnati Enquirer: the follow- 
ing from the Commercial, giving a few additional incidents of 
the closing scene : — 

" The first stir 'of life outside was the twitter of swallow.s 
in the eaves. The cold, gray light of the morning disputed 
sway with the burning lamp, but when that was removed at 
last as no longer necessary, it seemed to have consumed the 
last ray of light in the face of the dying man. A deathly 
pallor overspread the features; the finger nails of the rio-ht 
hand, which from the first rested on the pillow beside his face, 
while the other grasped and was buried in the bed-clothes, 
turned blue. The time of dissolution drew nigh. With t\n\ 
earliest light came hosts of friends. The hotel was again filled 
with visitors, and the street in front was thronged with pity- 
ing people. 

" But that terrible waiting for death was sorely protracted. 
It was a heaviness that weighed everybody down, and will 
make that sad morning forever memorable in the houses and 
homes of Lebanon. 

" The great strong nature of the man struggled hard with 
fate, and gallantly contended for life. Consciousness was 
retained almost to the last moment. It looked out clear from 
those once magnificent eyes, and sounded in the intelligent 
answers to questions. As an instance : At 9 o'clock too much 



532 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

pressure, by leaning on the foot of the bed, caused one of the 
rollers to give Avay, thus imparting a slight jar to the 
prostrate man, 

" Mr. A^allandigham opened his eyes, and turning his head, 
asked distinctly : ' What is that ? ' 

, "Earlier in the morning he heard some one winding 
a watch. Said Mr. Vallandigham : ' Judge Hume, have my 
watch wound — it winds in the stem.' 

"Around the bed now gathered the immediate friends — 
Judge D. A. Haynes, Judge J. E. McKemy, Jno. M. Sprigg, 
]Mr. Williamson, Jas. L. Vallandigham (la^\yer) of Hamilton, 
Jas, Vallandigham (printer) of Hamilton, Job. E. Owens, 
Judge Hume, Mr. Millikin, Mr. McBurney, Judge Smith of 
Lebanon, Judge Pope, Drs. Reeve, Dawson, Scoville and 
Drake, and many others. 

" Charley came over to his father's left, for he had now for 
the first time since being placed on it the night before, turned 
off his right side and lay upon his back. A brief struggle : 
the uneasy rolling of the head and movement of the hands, the 
labored breathing, the glazing eye, the tightening of the skin 
upon the face and the dropping of the lower jaw; a few 
groans escaped the beautifully arched chest, the iris disappeared, 
leaving the white of the eye only to be seen, a few gasps for the 
fast fleeting breath, and Clement L. Vallandigham parted 
with life." 

The news of Mr. Vallandigham's death was everywhere 
received with the deepest and most intense sorrow. Men of 
all parties sincerely mourned his sudden and tragic departure 
The following we copy from the Dayton Ledger: — 

"how the news was EECEIVED in DAYTON. 

" AYhile the bulletins were flashing all the forenoon of Satur- 
day their thrilling announcements of the dying condition of 
the distinguished sufferer at Lebanon, it was touching and 
gratifying to note how nobly and with one voice our people 
evinced in their anxiety, their eagerness to grasj) something to 
build a hope uj)on, even in the face of the most hopeless 
intelligence. 

"Upon street corners, in many groups, in the crowded 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 533 

market-place, within the public offices of the city and county, 
in the rooms of the dying man's professional brethren, as well 
as in his household and familiar circles — over all hung the 
cloud of coming woe. As the bolt was hurled and the terrible 
suspense was terminated by the stroke of death,- all felt 
and took mournful joy in repeating, without regard to creed 
or political j)rinciples or condition of life, that the memory of 
this citizen M'hose fame is national, would ever be a treasure for 
each townsman who had enjoyed the honor and pleasure of 
personal intimacy. 

" Tenderest solicitude was constantly uttered for the darling 
boy of the heroic statesman — ' for Charley.' There was not a 
man whose son is dear to him who did not breathe a deep wish 
or fervent prayer for the noble lad in this his great sorrow. 

" For the stricken wife, whose terriljle grief was even then 
accumulating u2:)on her head, not a woman whose husband is 
near and dear to her who did not entreat the All-Merciful to 
stay, if might be, the heavy hand of the destroyer, and to buoy 
up with the grace of our heavenly Father her crushed and 
agonised soul. 

"It is one of the noblest traits in this distinguished man 
that all who knew him most loved him most. Here in Dayton, 
where the most intense and searching criticism has been daily 
maintained over his life, he was most tenderly beloved. 

" This intrepid knight, confronting the nation with all its 
warlike energies invoked, in his convictions of right and his 
defence of constitutional justice, is this day, and for many years 
will be, mourned with the deep, heartfelt blessings of the poor 
and friendless. This noble champion has found the time and 
means throughout his eventful life to wield in his right arm 
the weapons of the law in defence of many, many poor 
neighbors, friendless young men, many a poor woman of plain 
apparel and station, and earned the blessed reward of the tears 
of grateful poverty which fall upon the tomb of the trusty 
counsellor whose voice is now hushed. 

" Let national halls and civic chambers echo the well-earned 
praise of the statesman ; but the tender affection and hearty 
sympathy which the poor in life feel for their generous and 
magnanimous friend in need are worthy to be reckoned in the 
jewels of the fame of Clement L. Vallandigham. 

" The strong, robust nature of the friendships of the states- 



532 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

pressure, by leaning on the foot of the bed, caused one of the 
rollers to give way, thus imparting a slight jar to the 
prostrate man. 

" Mr. Vallandigham opened his eyes, and turning his head, 
asked distinctly : ' What is that ? ' 

" Earlier in the morning he heard some one winding 
a watch. Said Mr. Vallandigham : ' Judge Hume, have my 
watch wound — it winds in the stem.' 

"Around the bed now gathered the immediate friends — 
Judge D. A. Haynes, Judge J. E. McKemy, Jno. M. Sprigg, 
Mr. Williamson, Jas. L. Vallandigham (la^Ayer) of Hamilton, 
Jas. Vallandigham (printer) of Hamilton, Job. E. Owens, 
Judge Hume, Mr. Millikin, Mr. McBurney, Judge Smith of 
Lebanon, Judge Pope, Drs. Reeve, Dawson, Scoville and 
Drake, and many others. 

" Charley came over to his father's left, for he had now for 
the first time since being placed on it the night before, turned 
oif his right side and lay upon his back. A brief struggle : 
the uneasy rolling of the head and movement of the hands, the 
labored breathing, the glazing eye, the tightening of the skin 
upon the face and the dropping of the lower jaw; a few 
groans escaped the beautifully arched chest, the iris disappeared, 
leaving the white of the eye only to be seen, a few gasps for the 
fast fleeting breath, and Clement L. Vallandigham parted 
with life." 

The news of Mr. Vallandigham's death was everywhere 
received with the deepest and most intense sorrow. Men of 
all parties sincerely mourned his sudden and tragic departure 
The following we copy from the Dayton Ledger : — 

"how the news was received in DAYTON. 

" While the bulletins were flashing all the forenoon of Satur- 
day their thrilling announcements of the dying condition of 
the distinguished suflxsrer at Lebanon, it was touchuag and 
gratifying to note how nobly and with one voice our people 
evinced in their anxiety, their eagerness to grasp something to 
build a hope upon, even in the face of the most hopeless 
intelligence. 

"Upon street corners, in many groups, in the crowded 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 533 

market-place, within the public offices of the city and county, 
iu the rooms of the dying man's professional brethren, as well 
as in his household and familiar circles — over all hung the 
cloud of coming woe. As the bolt was hurled and the terrible 
suspense was terminated by the stroke of death,- all felt 
and took mournful joy in repeating, without regard to creed 
or political principles or condition of life, that the memory of 
this citizen whose fame is national, would ever be a treasure for 
each townsman who had enjoyed the honor and pleasure of 
personal intimacy. 

" Tenderest solicitude was constantly uttered for the darling 
boy of the heroic statesman — ' for Charley.' There was not a 
man whose son is dear to him who did not breathe a deep wish 
or fervent prayer for the noble lad in this his great sorrow. 

" For the stricken wife, whose terrible grief was even then 
accumulating upon her head, not a woman whose husband is 
near and dear to her who did not entreat the All-Merciful to 
stay, if might be, the heavy hand of the destroyer, and to buoy 
up with the grace of our heavenly Father her crushed and 
agonised soul. 

"It is one of the noblest traits in this distinguished man 
that all who knew him most loved him most. Here in Dayton, 
where the most intense and searching criticism has been daily 
maintained over his life, he was most tenderly beloved. 

" This intrepid knight, confronting the nation with all its 
warlike energies invoked, in his convictions of right and his 
defence of constitutional justice, is this day, and for many years 
will be, mourned with the deep, heartfelt blessings of the poor 
and friendless. This noble champion has found the time and 
means throughout his eventful life to Avield in his right arm 
the weapons of the law in defence of many, many poor 
neighbors, friendless young men, many a poor woman of plain 
apparel and station, and earned the blessed reward of the tears 
of grateful poverty which fall upon the tomb of the trusty 
counsellor whose voice is now hushed. 

" Let national halls and civic chambers echo the well-earned 
praise of the statesman ; but the tender affection and hearty 
sympathy which the poor in life feel for their generous and 
magnanimous friend in need are worthy to be reckoned in the 
jewels of the fame of Clement L. Vallandigham. 

" The strong, robust nature of the friendships of the states- 



534 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

man had drawn to him hosts of friends who ' were grappled to 
his soul with hooks of steel.' Never was there a man whose 
public contests had drawn so many enemies who could so truly 
boast the ' friends I have and their adoption tried ' are mine 
still, and in his dying hours rallied to him nobly and most 
knightly. Around his bedside, through his protracted struggle 
with the last enemy by night and by day, they stood by him. 
Among these are mentioned Honorables Judge Hayncs, Judge 
McKemy, Judge Dwyer, Messrs. Gillespie, Greble, Bettelon, 
and others. 

" Special mention is due to the unwearied exertions, pro- 
longed and exhaustive as only the physician's are of the family 
medical attendant. Dr. J. C. Keeve. At the first summons this 
heroic man, accompanied by the heart- stricken son, repaired in 
the night to the side of the patient and reached him at midnight. 
Thi'oughout the night and until the afternoon of the departure 
from Lebanon with the remains for home, there was not a 
moment in which this zealous physician was not in active and 
continuous devotion to his charge, applying all that the art of 
medicine could accomplish for relief, and watching tenderly 
over the dying man. 

" But Vallandigham is dead. The nation weeps ; and well 
it 'may, for it has lost a noble son. The State of Ohio where 
he was born and where he spent the best and most active years 
of his life, the city of Dayton where he was intimately known 
and beloved, and where he was recognised as the head of his 
profession and of his party, feel his loss most keenly.^ The 
earnest sympathies of the entire community, irrespective of 
politics or religion, are tendered the widow and the son of the 
illustrious deceased. 

" Vallandigham's name is perhaps as widely known as that 
of any other public man of the United States. His career has 
been eventful and varied. His public course has been con- 
spicuous, commanding the most enthusiastic admiration of some 
and exciting the severest denunciation of others. He was a man 
of the strongest convictions, unflinching will and great courage. 
The whole country knows his qualities as a statesman and the 
power of his intellect. 

"As a lawyer he occupied a position in the front-rank of 
liis profession. 

"The people of tliis community without , distinction of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 535 

party feel a common grief at the sad accident which so suddonly 
terminated his life. 

"He was fast extinguishing by his manly and social qualities 
all the asperities that existed in former times, and the regret 
felt at this calamity by his neighbors and fellow-citizens is 
heartfelt and universal." 

A little after two o'clock in the afternoon, the mournful cor- 
tege, escorting all that was mortal of Clement L. Vallandigham 
started from Lebanon. The carriages and the hearse contain- 
ing his remains were driven as rapidly as possible, and about 
six o'clock approached the city of Dayton. Several gentlemen 
came out to meet the body ; and it is probable a large number 
would have come had it not been for the dark clouds which 
had been gathering all afternoon, and which now hung gloomily 
and threateningly over the city. As the cortege reached the 
summit of a hill, so that those composing it could overlook 
Dayton, a dark and most sombre cloud hung over the city, and 
blackened the sky down to the northern horizon. Against the 
darkness of the sky, the spires, towers, and jjinnacles of the 
churches and public buildings stood out so ghastly white, like 
sheeted ghosts, by the contrast, that it was startlingly awful in 
appearance ; and as they entered the city, a fearful storm burst 
over them, the thunders rolled solemnly above their heads, the 
lightning flashed frightfully, and the rain poured down in tor- 
rents ; and thus, amid the wild convulsions of the elements, 
Clement L. Vallandigham was carried to his home, never more 
to enlighten it by his genial presence in life, nor make it happy 
by his kind hospitality. In gloomy silence, the mournful 
burden was borne through the door and deposited in the room 
which so many times had been made joyous by his pleasant 
humor, and where he had spent so many delightful hours of 
domestic happiness. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE FUNERAL. 

The funeral of Clement L. Vallandigliam took place in 
Dayton on June 20, 1871. It was an occasion of the deepest 
solemnity, eloquently testifying to his great virtues, his wide 
popularity. The city was thronged with sincere mourners. 
From the east, the west, the north, the south, crowded trains 
came in the night preceding, and the morning of the sad day 
brought new hosts. Delegations from Cincinnati, St. Louis, 
Chicago, and other Western cities arrived by every train, and 
the hotels were filled to overflowing. From the country 
around Dayton great numbers of persons flocked in, and early 
in the day the streets were massed with people, and the broad 
avenues alive with vehicles of all descriptioixs, the general in- 
terest and feeling deepening with each hour. Never before 
was so great a multitude assembled at a funeral in this region, 
and touching indeed was the feeling of sorrow which seemed 
to pervade the vast concourse. Dayton was a mourning city; 
many of her houses draped in black, and the national flag tied 
with crape, floating from the cornice of the Court House; 
business was entirely suspended, stores and public buildings 
being closed, and an atmosphere of gloom overshadowing all. 
Faces were grave with regret and voices hushed into tender- 
ness, while the people went about the streets talking of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 537 

Clement L. Vallandigham, his nobleness, his charity, his legal 
ability, his eloquence, his courage, his good and great gifts — 
all were recounted with an earnestness which of itself told 
unerringly how deeply he was revered and beloved. In the 
general sorrow which prevailed, political differences and anta- 
gonisms seemed to melt away. Republicans met with Demo- 
crats in hearty regret for him who had gone, remembering only 
his nobleness, his high graces of mind and heart. All ages, 
classes, and religious sects knew no division in their sorrow, 
no separation in their yearning wish to do him honor. 

At 9 o'clock on the morning of June 20th, Mr. Vallandig- 
ham's residence on First street was opened to the public, thus 
affording all an opportunity of looking upon him for the last 
time. That peaceful, happy home ! amongst its beautiful 
flowers and clustering shrubbery it stood saddened and desolate. 
He who had ever given his friends true welcome within its 
walls was indeed there, but how changed ! Silent the eloquent 
lip, closed the beaming eyes, and stilled forever the warm, 
brave heart. In liis last sleep he lay, within the hall of liis 
home, attired for the grave, his face calm, composed, bring- 
ing back clearly the man so truly revered by the vast crowd 
which slowly and sadly filed past. 

On a catafalque covered with black velvet, and placed in the 
centre of the hall, rested the coffin. It was of rosewood, richly 
and beautifully finished ; on each side were four massive silver 
handles with silver tassels; it was ornamented with Masonic 
emblems, engraved on silver shields set between the handles. 
On the lid was a broad plate with the inscription : — 
Clement Laied Vallakdigham. 

Born July 2dth, 1820. 

Died June lltli, 1871. 



538 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGIIAM. 

From 9 o'clock for some hours an unbroken tide of people 
passed through the hall. It was an immense motley crowd, 
but swayed by deepest feeling ; strong men and gentle women 
burst into tears as they gazed for the last time upon the dead. 
He had been an idol amongst them, enthroned in the hearts 
of the people as few public men have ever been or can ever 
be. 

Through the hall the visitors j)assed out to the side piazza, 
and from thence through the yard of the house next on the 
cast, a portion of the fence having for the time been taken 
down. About the hour of 11 A. M., the doors of Mr. Val- 
landigham's home were closed to all persons, and preparations 
commenced for the last rites. Meanwhile, the streets through 
which the funeral cortege was to pass were closely lined with 
people and vehicles. Each arriving train swelled the multi- 
tude ; numbers came from Toledo, Cleveland, Chillicothe, and 
densely crowded trains from Springfield, Hamilton, and Cin- 
cinnati. The Court House steps and the balconies of the 
hotels were filled long before the procession was formed. 

The funeral service began at 1 o'clock. The coffin had 
been taken from the hall to the parlor, where were gathered 
sorrowing, sympathising friends. The house was crowded, 
while the piazza, the front and side yards, the pavement and 
streets, were thronged with people. By the time the service 
besran, the crowd in the street in front of the house had 
increased to thousands of men, women and children. Opposite 
the house, and for squares, was a compact mass of human 
beings, anxious to look once again upon the well-known face 
of their beloved fellow-citizen. When the Masonic Order 
came up, with members of the Dayton Bar, and other societies 



LIFE OF CLEMEJsT l. vallandigham. 539 

following, it became necessary for the marshals of the day, 
assisted by the police, to clear the way ; this was done, however, 
quietly and without trouble. The funeral ceremonies were 
conducted by Rev. E. P. Wright, Rector of Christ Church, 
who read the Episcopal burial-service. In his white surplice 
he stood in the front door-way, and the solemn and beautifiil 
words sounded distinctly throughout the house, and reached 
the dense crowd outside, listening in reverential silence and 
with uncovered heads. 

The service concluded at half-past one, and the casket was 
carried to the hearse by the eight pall-bearers — Hon. George 
E. Pugh, David A. Houk, John Howard, Samuel Craighead, 
Elihu Thomson, O. C. Maxwell, D. K. Boyer, and ^Y. H. Gil- 
lespie — all of them residents of Dayton, with the exception 
of George E. Pugh, of Cincinnati. The lid of the casket was 
covered by wreaths of flowers, exquisitely mingled with Eng- 
lish ivy and lilies, while clusters of pure white flowers were 
grouped about in the hearse, which was of ebony and silver. 
At a quarter before two, the funeral procession moved in the 
following order: 

Grand Marshal. City Police. 

Knights Templar Brass Band. 

The Masonic Order. ' . 

Hearse and Pall-bearers. 
The Clergy in carriages. 

The mourners in carriages occupied the usual place. They 
consisted of the following persons, Mrs. Vallandigham not 
being in a condition to attend : 1st. Charles N. Vallandigham, 
his son, Judge D. A. Haynes, his law-partner, and his two 



540 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

brothers, the Rey. James L. Vallandigliam and Dr. George S. 
Vallandigham ; 2d. Mrs. M. E. Robertson, his sister, Mr. and 
Mrs. Gilman, and Miss Maggie Robertson, nephew and nieces ; 
3d. Dr. Irving S. Vallandigham, James L. Robertson, Esq., 
Dr. John S. Robertson, and J. L. Vallandigham, Esq., 
nephews ; 4th. Dr. R. S. Mclvaig, John A. McMahon, Esq., 
and John M. Sprigg, Esq., relatives of JMrs. Vallandigham. 
The remainder of the procession was made up of the Bar of 
Ohio (of whom there were said to be 500 in line), the Eschol 
Lodge, I. O. B. B., a Hebrew organization of Dayton, the 
members of the Dayton Bar, citizens on foot and citizens in 
carriages, making a line of immense length. The procession 
was over half an hour in j)assing the Court House, moving 
without making a single pause. Here alone the carriages 
numbered one hundred and thirty-one, and every cross street 
sending in an additional stream, the number of carriages that 
gathered at the cemetery must have reached three hundred. 
Not a few also of the hundreds of yeomanry united with the 
procession as it moved on its solemn way. 

To his last earthly rest so passed Clement Laird Vallandig- 
ham. Through the streets which never again should know his 
quick, firm step — beneath the shadow of homes where his 
name had been a household word, and his jDresence ever 
a delight — along the avenues of the beautiful city, for years his 
chosen home, he went — to "the City of the Dead" — a 
great multitude following him, and sorrowing "that they 
should see his face no more." O scene of tender, affecting 
solemnity ! The soft summer sky overhead, the hushed city, 
the stately hearse, the long line of carriages, the imjjosing 
column of societies, orders, and officials, the vast throng of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, 541 

mourning people, all thrilled by one common sorrow, stricken 
by one mighty bereavement ! Slowly the sad procession moved 
on, reaching at last the grave in Woodland Cemetery. This 
was in Mr. Vallandigham's lot near the centre of the cemetery, 
a beautiful spot. Here in expectation of the great attendance, 
rojjes had been put across, within which only the family, im- 
mediate friends, and persons directly interested in the last rites, 
were admitted. On arriving at the grave, the family and 
nearest friends placed themselves beside the casket on one 
side, whilst the remaining sides within the ropes were occupied 
by tin members of the Bar and the members of the Masonic 
fraternity, who defiled in two lines. All being in readiness, 
the Master of the Masons, with the Chaplain and others selected 
to conduct the last ceremonies, advanced from the outer circle 
to the edge of the grave, and repeated the touching burial- 
service of the ancient order. Then as the last words of the 
prayer died away, the subdued slipping of the ropes was heard 
as they were drawn out from beneath the casket. Now came 
each Mason, according to their ancient rites, casting into the 
tomb the little green sprig, telling of their ever-living regard 
for the memory of their beloved and honored brother. And 
then what remained but "dust to dust, earth to earth"? — the 
" clods of the valley " covering the precious remains and hid- 
ing them from mortal sight ! And while mourning friends 
sloM'ly returned to their carriages, and the sad dirges of the 
band were heard, the great crowd, sweeping away the slight 
barriers, began to press round the grave, eager to see the spot 
where had been laid the man they loved and admired so truly. 
And is this then the very last of earth for him ? Even so ; 
he has passed from the stage of life, and " the places which knew 



542 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

him once, shall know him no more again forever." Farewell, 
then, pure jaatriot soul ! true, brave heart, farewell ! He has 
gone ; but we catch the echo of his words, long ago spoken, 
though with a different meaning, yet we would write them on 
our hearts, and with the eye of faith read them above the tomb 
where he sleeps so well : — 

" ' Mesurgam,' I shall rise again. 
And it will be a glorious resurrection." 

The following interesting incident in connection with the 
funeral, it may not be out of place here to record. On that day 
a large mass-meeting of the Democracy was assembled at St. 
Clairsville. General George AV. Morgan, a political and 
personal friend of Mr. Vallandigham, was to address the 
meeting. He took the stand at 2 o'clock, just as the funeral 
procession was pursuing its sad and solemn march to the silent 
city of the dead, and commenced thus : — 

" Felloic- Citizens : — Death has suddenly removed from the 
scenes of action one of our most distinguished statesmen. Val- 
landigham is no more. Never again will his voice be heard in 
council. Never more will the people be inspired by the mag- 
netism of his presence, or roused to action by the inspiration of 
his eloquence. He is dead, but his name will live in the hearts 
of his countrymen. Now while I speak a vast concourse of his 
mourning friends and admirers are following his remains to the 
tomb. In respect for his memory let us stand uncovered wliile 
his remains are being placed in their last earthly home. [The 
entire crowd rose to their feet.] The sod of the valley now 
rests upon his bosom, but his spirit is with us here to-day, 
and the highest eulogy Ave can pay to him will be to faithfully 
continue battling for the cause of the Constitution and the 
people." 

"NVe have already mentioned that Mrs. Vallandigham was 
not in a condition to attend the funeral of her husband. Sen- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 543 

sitive and delicate by nature, lier terrible bereavement crushed 
her to the very earth. She received the tidings of her beloved 
husband's death while standing beside the coffin of an endeared 
brother. And so from " the house of mourning," she went to 
her own desolated home in Dayton — a long and weary journey, 
which told heavily upon her exhausted strength and stricken 
heart. For some weeks after her husband's funeral, Mrs. Val- 
landigham was confined to her bed from prostration induced 
by the bitter calamity which had so cruelly swept over her. 
When her strength seemed a little to return, upon medical 
advice, she was taken by her friends to her early home in Cum- 
berland, Maryland, and all hoped the change of scene and resi- 
dence would soothe and revive her. But the wound was too 
deep for any " balm" to reach, the shadow too dark ever to be 
lifted. Day by day she faded, her frail hold on life relaxing, 
her strength ebbing, until at last the weary heart ceased its 
throbbings, and was forever at rest. Mrs. "Vallandigham died 
on the morning of the 13th of August, peacefully falling 
asleep — the last letter her beloved husband had written her 
closely clasped to her breast. Thus she left what had become 
to her a world of sorrow and sighing. Not long " divided by 
death's cold stream " from the husband of her love, she crossed 
over after him, "to where beyond those waters it is peace." 
And so with her " it is well." 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

TEIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 

The news of tlie tragic death of Mr. Yallandigliam pro- 
duced a profound sensation all over the country. Scarcely a 
newspaper of any reputation in the land failed to pay some 
tribute to his memory. A large number of Bar meetings and 
meetings of citizens were held in various places, where most 
flattering testimonials were rendered to the many excellences of 
his character and his abilities. It may not perhaps be usual to 
publish in biographies such testimonials and newspaper tributes ; 
yet as future generations must judge of a man not only Ijy the 
acts of his life, but also by the opinions expressed by those 
contemporary with him and the feelings developed by his death, 
w« venture to lay before our readers such testimonials and tri- 
butes to his memory as have been brought to our notice. 

"meeting of the bah. 

"Dayton, 0., June 19, 1871. 

"A meeting of the bar was held this morning. Hon. S. 
Bolton in a few appropriate W'ords announced to the Court of 
Common Pleas the death of Vallandigham, and in accordance 
with his motion the Court adjourned until next Friday in respect 
to the memory of the deceased. In the Superior Court, Samuel 
Craighead, Esq., alluded in a feeling manner to the death of 
Vallandigham, accompanying the motion for an adjournment 
with a strong and eloquent tribute to his memory. 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 545 

"Judge Lowe made the following response : 

"In the remarks and suggestions which have just been 
made I perfectly agree. The terrible accident which has brought 
death to our friend and brother, and unfeigned sorrow to in- 
numerable hearts throughout this broad land of ours, from 
ocean to ocean, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, weighs so 
heavily upon us who were his familar friends, that the per- 
formance of our ordinary duties in this place, for tlie present 
at least, is impossible. While I have at this time no formal 
eulogy to pronounce upon Mr. Vallandigham, I am constrained 
to add a few words to the testimony of the great multitude 
who everywhere are reminding themselves and others of his 
virtues and sorrowing over his untimely end. Of his abilities 
as a lawyer and an orator it is needless to speak. They have 
secured for him an honored name, not only throughout our 
nation, but wherever the English language is spoken through- 
out the world. We, however, have seen and known him also 
amid the gentle amenities of social life, and we know, what 
perhaps the world does not, that he was an affectionate and 
faithful husband, a most tender father, a kindly neighbor, a 
just and upright citizen. AVe know the warmth of his attach- 
ment to his friends and the readiness with which his heart re- 
sponded to every manifestation of persjtnal regard, that kindness 
always melted him as the sun the snow. When we remember 
the stormy life he lived, his firm belief that Providence was 
still preparing and training him for distinguished usefulness, 
and that prosperity in the future would make ample amends for 
disappointmeilt in the past, we can easily understand his ex- 
pression of confidence during Friday night that God would 
not allow such an accident at such a time to end his life, and 
we stand in awe and wonder at the different ordering of Him 
who is indeed inscrutable and whose ways are past finding out. 
To me, as his friend, it is a matter affording great satisfaction 
to know that to the end of life, amidst all the sophistries of 
modern infidelity, he held fast to the faith in God and His Holy 
Word, and in His Son, the Divine Saviour of mankind, which 
he received in childhood at his mother's knee. Could the 
silent lips now speak, they -would say, as we must, *' that while 
God's ways are not as our ways, yet the Lord of all the earth 
surely doeth right.' At this moment Burke's solemn reflection 
rises naturally to our lips, 'What shadows we arc, what 

35 



546 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

.shadows we pursue ! ' We look forward upon our pathway as 
shining before us through distant years, when perhaps an 
open grave yawns at our very feet. A man's heart deviseth 
his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. Shall not each one 
of us be instructed by this most sudden mournful event, 

' To so live 
That when the summous comes to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that mysterious realm, where eacli shall take 
Ilis chamber in the silent halls of Death, 
We go not, like the quarry slaves, at night. 
Scourged to their dungeons; but, sustained and soothed 
By an unftiltering trust, approach the grave 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
' About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams ' ? 

" The Court thereupon adjourned until Wednesday morn- 
ing at nine o'clock. 

" At the bar-meeting this afternoon, Senator Peter Odlin 
alluded to the excellent character of the deceased. There was 
no man living iii his day that commanded more intensely the 
.iittachment of his friends than JNIr. Vallandigham. 

" jSIr. Odlin also paid a beautiful tribute to the courage and 
sincerity of the deceased, and waiving the political ditierence 
which he had with him, acknowledged the mark that he had 
made upon his own age in whatever capacity he had appeared. 
But Mr. Odlin paid an especial tribute to his manliness as a 
member of the legal profession, how free he was from every- 
thing that was not honest and true ; how sincere, square and 
pecuniarily incorruptible he always appeared, and really was. 
From this he touchingly glided into the peculiarly accumulated 
griefs which had fallen upon Mr. V.'s wife and family, adding 
to the death of a brother that also of a husband. 

" A committee was appointed to report resolutions expressive 
of the feelings of the Dayton bar, consisting of the following 
gentlemen : Geo. W. Honk, Lewis B. Gunckel, Henderson 
Elliott, Samuel Bolton, J. H. Baggott, E. W. Davies, E. S. 
Young, Adam Clay, and George W. Moyer. The meeting then 
adjourned till to-morrow at 10 o'clock. 

" MEETING OF THE BAR. 

" June 20. 
"The members of the Dayton bar met in adjourned meriting 
at the court-house at ten o'clock, many celebrated lawyers and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 547 

jurists from abroad being in attendance. We have seldom seen 
j a sadder assemblage of men gathered in a single apartment. 
There were young lawyers just starting in the profession, and 
aged jurists who had climbed the dizzy steeps of fame, sitting 
side by side and sharing in the common sorrow. The appear- 
ance of the meeting was inexpressibly pathetic. 

" Hon. Peter Odlin occupied the chair. He stated that a 
committee had been appointed the previous day to draft resolu- 
tions to be reported at the present meeting. Distinguishetl 
gentlemen were present, and, as the committee were not entirely 
prepared for their report, it would give those present great 
pleasure to hear from some of them in regard to their deceased 
brother. All would be very hajjpy to listen to some remarks 
from Judge Thurman. 

" Senator Thurman arose, and, with visible emotion, spoke 
as follows : — 

" Mr. Chairman : — At a bar meeting like this, composed of 
gentlemen of different political sentiments, assembled to pay a 
tribute of respect to a deceased ^professional brother, any remarks 
other than those touching his professional character, or his 
character as a man, would obviously be out of place. I suppose 
that this consideration must necessarily abbreviate what I hav(! 
to say, if indeed brevity were not greatly to be desired on this 
occasion. 

" Of tlie professional character of Mr. Vallandigham I have 
no j:)ersonal knowledge. I never saw him try a case ; I never 
heard liim make a legal argument. I have read some of his 
printed arguments that were characterised by that force of mind, 
that felicity of expression that marked every production of his 
pen. But in the actual struggles of the bar I never saw him in 
my life. And yet I know he must have been a great lawyer 
by the reputation he attained in a city whose bar is second to 
none in the State, and where no ordinary man could attain the 
standard he attained. And I also know it well from my 
knowledge of the man himself — a knowledge extending 
through thirty years of his life. I know he had that quickness 
of apprehension, that grasp of mind, that sturdiness of pur- 
pose, that earnestness of will, that felicity of expression, that 
magnetic eloquence and that untiring industry which could not 
fail to achieve success at the bar, when coupled with an integ- 
rity of character, both in his public and private career, which 
no man ever called in question. 



548 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

" I know, therefore, that he must have been a great lawyer. 
I saAV evidences of it in the sad circumstance that produced his 
death ; for he had one remarkable trait of character that per- 
haps brought him to his untimely end. In whatever cause he 
embarked — be it political, be it moral, be it professional — 
he threw his whole soul into it. It seemed impossible for it 
to be otherwise. Many a time have I met him in political 
conventions, or in social intercourse, when political or moral 
subjects became the topic of conversation. Many a time I have 
agreed with him, but not infrequently have I disagreed. And 
yet I could not help being struck with the fact, that however 
much to my mind it might appear untrue, he never failed to 
be thoroughly convinced of its truth himself. His mind wab 
so constituted that his theories were truth itself to him. how- 
ever much to others they might seem unsound. 

" And now, with that eagerness of mind, that ardor to which 
I have alluded,, he prosecuted every cause which he espoused, 
and I can not help thinking, after reading with careful and 
painful interest the circumstances of his death, that he owed it 
to this trait of his character. He had a theory of the defence 
of his client, whether right or wrong I know not, and if I had 
an opinion in regard to the matter it would not be proper to 
express it. But I have no doubt it was truth itself to him. 
I have no doubt it was as a revelation to him. I have no 
doubt that he believed it as much as he believed in his own 
existence, and that in his eagerness to impress that belief on 
others, in that ardor with which he threw himself into his 
cause, in the efforts w^hich he made to impress upon his asso- 
ciate counsel, not only the probability, but the actual truth of 
his theory, he lost that prudence which characterises most men, 
and seized and made fatal use of that weapon by which he 
came to his untimely end. 

" Mr. President, many a lawyer has lost his health, and 
even his life, in the pursuit of his profession, by an overworked 
brain, by sickness contracted in the exposure that sometimes 
attends a professional career. By agitation of mind, loss of 
happiness, and sometimes loss of friendship, men have become 
wearied of life and sunk gradually into the grave. But no 
man that I ever knew, or ever heard of, lost his life in so 
dramatic and heroic an exercise of his profession ; no man ever 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDiaHAM. 549 

had so thorough aud complete an absorption in his cause as our 
friend. 

" Most grateful to his friends is the fact that, without re- 
gard to party, without regard to political subjects, without 
regard to any subject whatever, there is now one universal 
voice of lament, one universal expression of sorrow through- 
out the length and breadth of the land. 

" At the conclusion of Senator Thurman's speech Judge 
McKemy, of Dayton, spoke briefly and feelingly in eulogy of 
the deceased, alluding to the kind relations that had always 
existed between himself and Mr. Vallandigham. 

" Hon. S. S. Cox, of Is^ew York, formerly an honored son 
of Ohio, was called upon. He spoke in his usual eloquent 
manner, his voice being frequently inaudible from profound 
feeling. 

" He said : — 

" Ilr. President : — I have been some two nights and a day 
u23on the cars coming hither, and I am almost unfitted by 
reason of physical exhaustion,as well by reasons of an emo- 
tional nature, from making any consecutive speech, or even 
linking consecutive thought. Judge Thurman has well defined 
the lines of character that marked Mr. Vallandigham. He 
spoke specially about his relations to the bar and his legal 
accomplishments. In that high forum he showed those char- 
acteristics which came, I think, from his early rigid Presby- 
terian discipline. 

"But I think, Mr. President, it would be unjust were I not 
to say — what has doubtless occurred to gentlemen more in- 
timately and recently associated with him ~ here — that within 
the last few years he toned to a better harmony many of the 
attributes belonging to our discordant partisan politics. I think 
that members of the bar, with whom he differed, as he did with 
me often on political matters — I think that members of the 
Democratic party, and especially gentlemen of the opposite 
party, have found that as lie grew older he had a larger hu- 
manity. 

" As time walked along with him, hand in hand, it seemed 
that his character became more mellow, graceful and gentle. 
It seems to me that that is the experience of our friends here 



550 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

who are listening so intently to my words. It is this ripe, 
mellow and graceful finale to his life of struggle which makes 
this the most mournful day Ohio ever knew. In our early 
associations, Mr. President, especially in Congress during the 
war, he showed those rigid outlines of character which seemed 
to many proof of uncharitableness and bitterness. His recent 
revelations in regard to our national politics have not only a 
kindly but a national significance. By his ' new departure ' he 
sought to draw with cords of common love and mutual patriot- 
ism, men of all parties, and men of no party, and men of both 
parties, into a common and kindly unity. 

" I have known the deceased, Mr. President, in many rela- 
tions. When I first knew him he was in the Legislature. 
Even then he was a leader of the people, although not more 
than twenty-one years of age. I think that he was, perhaps, 
the man who did more than any other in Ohio to inaugurate 
your new constitution. Of that. Senator Thurman can speak 
more definitely. Yes, I am sure I am right. My first incident 
with our friend was, strange to say, about international law. 
When I came back to Ohio from college, I sent him a little 
brochure which I had written upon the work of Hugo Gro- 
tius. Mr. Yallandigham read it, and with a kind, scholarly 
and careful sympathy wrote me a letter of praise about it, long 
before I ever knew him, or expected to be on Foreign Affairs 
Committees, or go to live in New York city to try international 
cases before Claims Commissioners. I met him afterward in 
1853 at the Democratic State Convention of that year. It was 
a wild, fierce Convention. 

"Mr. Yallandigham was President of that Convention. 
It w^as there I first saw displayed his command of men, his 
tact, his indomitable courage and parliamentary skill. I was 
impressed greatly with his courage, earnestness, and the incom- 
parable skill which he there displayed. I then observed, also, 
what I afterward had occasion to know in public debate at 
Washington, that no man was more thoroughly versed in par- 
liamentary law, or its practice, than he. In the language of a 
quaint old English author, he wielded his ra^jier as if it were 
a 'lissome lath.' He never failed to make his mark either 
upon the gallery or upon the members. He was always care- 
fully heard when he spoke. In a body which measures men 
by instinct — and at that time full of great debaters — he had 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 551 

no peer. Those who knew him best as a painstaking scholar, 
will not fail to recall his painstaking labor limce. He worked 
on his most elaborate speeches under the lamp. But while he 
was seldom satisfied with his matured efforts, he always liked 
to have his friends like his impromptu efforts. Never shall I 
forget the fierce, defiant, bold, able, logical and legal debate on 
the conscription law. Whether he was right or wrong, he 
believed he was right. He hurled his terrible philippics with 
such defiant energy of utterance, coupled with an unfailing 
orace of manner, that even the five thousand opponents in the 
galleries gave him their plaudits. 

" But, sir, I come here not to analyse his character, or to 
speak of political associations, but simply as a friend who never 
differed with him in friendly relation, though often in other 
reo-ards. But I have often received hospitality at his hands, 
in your city, and his house has always been so open — his kind 
and noble bereaved wife [sensation] has always been so ready 
to welcome her husband's friends — that I would prefer to 
speak of him in social and personal matters. % I come as all 
you feel — from our families — from our wives and sisters and 
mothers and children — to lay something before the widow and 
the orphan boy that will relieve the desolation of the one by 
our sympathy, and direct the other along that path of public 
and private probity and honor his father trod. In fine, I come 
as a friend to lay a June rose on his bier — to speak of my 
friend, who is, alas! gone, but whose memory remains. It 
will last as long as your beautiful Miami Valley, where he will 
sleep his last sleep. 

"General McCook was the next speaker. He said : — 

" I did not desire to utter a word upon this occasion which 
has brought us .together. I understood it would not be expected 
from me, and I would be silent now if I had not been named 
by the gentleman upon my right, and but for the fact that my 
silence might subject me to misconstruction. 

" I have known ISIr. Yallandigham longer, perhaps, than 
any person who has been of recent years associated with him. 
I commenced the study of Latin in a school taught by his 
brother, and where he himself was a pupil. Our relations from 
that time on, through almost the entire period of our lives, 



552 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

have been friendly, and for years and years there ^vas not a 
line of difference between us. I have not known him in his 
professional career of late years, for I was a young man when 
he left the part of the State where I was born and in which I 
resided. I have never been associated with him in the trial 
of a cause, and, as Judge Thurmau has remarked, I never 
heard him try a case. My experience of his ability was con- 
fined to a single professional relation that I sustained to him. 
I was retained by him to argue his right to a seat in Congress 
against the distinguished gentleman whom I am glad to see 
attending this meeting to-day. I mean Mr. L. D. Campbell. 
That case involved no questions that required great professional 
ability. The questions were mere statutory questions upon the 
right to vote, and, in some cases, upon the powers of the court. 

" But I know, as Judge Thui-man says, that he must have 
been a great la^vyer, for he had the qualities which at the bar 
always command success. I know that in that direction he 
was a tireless worker, and it has always seemed to me that if 
he had a fault at all, it was this wonderful persistence upon 
separate facts in a case, not necessary, as it seemed to my mind, 
to the determination of it. He was unwearied in the pursuit 
of every fact. Details, irksome to so many — I do not know 
that we ever reach generals successfully without the closest at- 
tention to details — commanded his careful attention. 

"He had great force of Avill, he had great energy of 
character, which will win the race against intellect among men 
at the bar, and anywhere in the struggles of life. He was a 
man who, as Mr. Thurman has well said, never had a doubt. 
His mind seemed never poised in deliberation, but he seemed 
to speak always with the sincerity of an assured conviction that 
nobody could shake and that no enemy could overcome. 

"We mourn the circumstances of his death. We sympa- 
thise with the family that he has left behind him. AVe sym- 
pathise with his only son and with his distracted wife, and we 
are called to mingle our griefs with theirs, and would be glad- 
der still if our sympathies could alleviate the terrible violence 
of the blow that has fallen upon them. We think his death 
unfortunate, and in some aspects it undoubtedly is so. The 
old Greek w^ould have said that he died a happy death, that he 
died with his armor on his back, and that his armor sounded 
as he fell. He died in the pursuit of his profession. He died , 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 553 

as the brother of Webster died, who fell his length before a 
jury while arguing a cause. 

"I say that I had not intended to speak a word on this occa- 
sion, and if, as I have already remarked, my silence might not 
have been subject to misconstruction, I would have preferred to 
have heard from others who knew him more intimately at the 
bar — that arena to which he had for the last few years more 
especially devoted himself. But I could not, when called upon 
here, fail to say what I have said. 

"The Hon. L. D. Campbell, being, repeatedly called for, 
finally arose and said : — 

" Were it not that I regard this as a most extraordinary 
occasion indeed, I should not have attempted this morning to 
leave the sick-room to which for some time past I have been 
confined. And now that I am hero, Mr. President, it seems 
to me that silence on my part would more fitly express the 
emotions of my heart. A few nights ago, or rather in the 
morning, prostrated and suffering from sickness, I was aroused 
by special messengers sent from Lebanon to announce to me that 
Mr. Vallandigham had accidentally shoe himself while engaged 
in conducting the trial of McGehan. Prior to this my mind 
had not infrequently been attracted to this case, because of the 
peculiar circumstances surrounding it, and because the crime 
with which McGehan was charged was perpetrated within a 
few hundred feet of my residence. I could not realise the truth 
of the message for some time. Alas ! it was too true, and the 
wound too fatal. Mr. President, I am neither physically nor 
mentally in a condition to do this subject justice, or to do my- 
self justice. I did not know Mr. Vallandigham so well as 
those who were his immediate neighbors, and yet .1 had oppor- 
tunities of measuring his intellectual strength on many occa- 
sions. It will be remembered by most of those by whom I 
am surrounded now, that nearly twenty years ago he and I 
were selected as representative men of two great political par- 
ties. I refer to the days when the old Democratic and the 
AVhig party were pitted against each other, and they were led 
by giant intellects, such as Webster and Everett on one side, 
and on the other by Buchanan, Cass, and Douglass. 

"Mr. Vallandigham and I w'ere chosen as champions to 



554 LIFE OF CLEMEKT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

uiGct before the people. Then for the first time I made his 
acquaintance, and from the very hour that we began the dis- 
cussion of the political questions of those days, I formed a very 
high opinion of his political strength. He was a man endowed 
by the great God of nature with peculiar attributes. And his 
natural abilities had been carefully cultivated until, even at 
that early period of his life — twenty years ago — he was a 
man of gigantic strength in public debate. It is true, I had 
ten years more experience, for I was ten years his senior ; but 
inexperienced as he was, I felt the power that he Avielded be- 
fore the people. Never, from that time, have I failed to most 
highly appreciate his abilities as a public man. 

" One of his great traits of character was that of individu- 
ality. Most of us are deficient in that respect. We are all too 
apt to lean upon others for assistance and support in the hour 
of necessity. But Mr. Vallandigham threw himself back on 
his own individual resources, and without regard to the char- 
acter of the opposition he had to encounter, relied upon him- 
self; and it was that great trait of his character, Mr. President, 
his individuality, that consciousness of having himself the 
strength and power to lead the people and carry them with 
him, which, in my judgment, was the secret of his success. 

" It has well been said that we had reason to believe there 
was a new field of usefulness open to him after a life of storm, 
as it were. But he has gone, and I submit to the decree of 
fate. ' After life's fitful fever he sleeps well.' 

" Mr. Campbell resumed his seat, overcome Avith emotion. 

"There was a general desire to hear from Judge D. A. Haynes, 
the late partner of Mr. Vallandigham, and he was several times 
called for, but he desired in a tremblfng voice to be excused, 
without assigning any reason. 

" Mr. Geo. W. Houk, from the Committee on Resolutions, 
presented his report, prefacing it as follows : — 

" It is difficult, Mr. President, upon these frequently-re- 
curring occasions, in giving expression to our emotions, to depart 
from the ordinary language of condolence or eulogy. 

" But the death of Mr. Vallandigham, so tragic, so affect- 
ing, calling him at once from the very mid-day of an active, 
vigorous, promising and ambitious life, to that other state of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 555 

existence of whicli mankind can have no glimpse bnt by the 
eye of faith, touches the profoundest depths of our nature, and 
suggests the deepest reflections upon human life and destiny. 

" We are forced to reflect upon the mysterious character of 
that wonderful change which by a pliysical instrumentality, so 
trifling in itself, has extinguished to tlie living world an as- 
semblage of faculties, personal, intellectual and moral, that 
seemed organised to influence the destinies of a great people. 

" That form so familiar to us, and but yesterday instinct with 
vigorous life, is to-day — dust. All his high hopes and aspi- 
rations, the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous jjalaces reared 
by his ambition, are now but the stuff that dreams are made of 
— 'his little life is rounded with a sleep.' 

'' The memory of his manly presence, the recollection of his 
courage, his eloquence, his integrity, his patriotism and many 
virtues : 

" It LS in testimony to these your committee make this re- 
port : 

" The Dayton Bar, deeply sympathising with the entire 
people in the thrill of sorrow occasioned by the sudden and 
tragic death of the Hon. C. L. Vallandigham, and moreover 
bound to him in the brotherhood of our professional relation, 
as well as by the ties of social and friendly intercourse, de- 
sires to give expression to its profound grief by these proceed- 
ings. 

"Resolved, That we bear willing and unanimous testimony to 
the distinguished ability of our deceased brother as a lawyer, 
his extensive and thorough acquirements as a scholar, his in- 
dustry as a student, his boldness as a statesman, and his courage 
as a man. That these qualities, united with an unusual degree 
of mental force and an invincible determination of character, 
have given Mr. Vallandigham a national reputation, and 
stamped him as one of the most remarkable men that have 
appeared in the political history of the United States. 

Hcsolved, That we wish especially upon this occasion to re- 
cord our appreciation of Mr. Vallandigham's uniform courtesy 
and kindness in his professional relations, especially to the 
younger members of the Bar ; his habits of close study, appli- 
cation, unremitting and enthusiastic devotion to his professional 
engagements, which the sad occasion of his death has sanctified 
as an examj)le of precious value to the American Bar. Although 



556 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

his career has been so unexpectedly terminated by an early death, 
his life, comparatively brief, but brilliant, active and eventful 
as it was, is replete with suggestions of value, not alone to the 
young men of his profession, but to all who possess the honor- 
able ambition to bear a conspicuous part in professional or po- 
litical life. 

"Bcsolvcd, That in this hour of double and crushing bereave- 
ment to a fond sister and devoted wife, called from the grave 
of a revered and affectionate brother whose distinguished 
talents shed lustre upon the American Bar, to attend the obse- 
quies of one still more dear to her as a husband, and whose 
brilliant fame marked him at this time as the most conspicuous 
figure in American politics, the Dayton Bar, acquainted with 
the virtues and excellence of Mrs. Vallandigham's character, 
tender to her and her son its heartfelt sympathies, and directs 
that they may be furnished with a copy of these proceedings. 

"Jicsolved, That as a mark of respect for the character of 
our distinguished brother, and our grief at the deplorable oc- 
currence of his untimely death, the Dayton Bar, inviting such 
of our brethren from abroad as shall be with us on this occasion, 
do attend his funeral in a body, and that .we will designate a 
day hereafter when these proceedings shall, on motion, be 
offered for record upon the minutes of our respective Courts. 

" The following was offered by Hon. George W. Houk : — 

"The Dayton Bar, being informed that the Hon. John 
W. Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 
upon receiving information at Baltimore of the sudden and 
lamentable bereavement of Mrs. Vallandigham and her con- 
sequent prostration and distress — she being then at Cumber- 
land, ]\Icl., attending the funeral of her deceased brother, the 
Hon. John V. L. McMahon — promptly tendered the use of 
his private coach, and made arrangements to have her thus 
conveyed, wdtli her intimate friends alone, from the city of 
Cumberland to her home in Dayton, we hereby desire, for our- 
selves and on behalf of the family and fi-iends of Mrs. Vallan- 
digham, to give public expression to our and their apjjreciation 
of an act of kindness and sympathy so delicate and considerate; 
and we request a copy of this acknowledgment, signed by the 
President and Secretary of this meeting, to be forwarded to 
Mr. Garrett. 

" The resolutions were unanimously adopted." 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 557 

Similar meetings were held at Cincinnati, Lebanon, Hamil- 
ton, Newport, Ky., and other places. 

At the meeting in Cincinnati the following remarks were 
made by the Hon. "VVm. S. Groesbeck : — 

"J/r. President: I did not come here with the expectation 
or intention of talking. On occasions of afflictions such as this, 
my inclination is to silence rather than to noise or display. But 
I have come here to meet with the rest of you, and to unite in 
an expression of sorrow over the great bereavement — family 
bereavement, social bereavement, bereavement of the State, and, 
in my judgment, bereavement of the nation — that has fallen 
upon us. We have lost, unexpectedly, and in a most unsatis- 
factory manner, a distinguished and valuable citizen, one whom 
I have known intimately for many years. We entered Congress 
at the same term, and at its conclusion he remained, while I 
returned home. 

" I have met Mr. Vallandigham frequently in the past two 
months, and have come pretty well to understand all his views 
and plans. I do not propose to make party allusions here, for 
this blow is felt by all ; but I can say that all his plans, with- 
out exception, as even his opponents and critics must admit, 
were those of a brave, honest, able and patriotic man. I know, 
if his life so full of strength and vigor had been spared, he 
would have demonstrated to the country the integrity of his 
purpose and his love of his State and the nation. 

" But I am not here to talk. I cannot do justice to our 
friend. I am without preparation for such a work. It is my 
pleasure, as it is the duty of all, in such an afflictive event as 
this, to say that we heartily render to him the proper tribute for 
all his virtues. 

" I cannot say mtich more. I do not know what to say. I 
knew his ambition to be useful ; to serve his country. He had 
no mean ambition. He had great qualities and harbored no- 
thing mean. I know it. I know it as Avell as others, and 
better than some. 

'* I can hardly be reconciled to this loss. It is to me inex- 
plical)le, unsatisfactory. It has shocked his home city, this city, 
the State and the nation. I am glad to see this unanimous 
tribute to hi^kuown qualities. It never entered into my ima- 



558 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

gination that Mr. VaDandigham was not thoroughly honest in 
all that he did or said. Anything mean or dishonest he would 
have tin-own out of the window — he would harbor nothing of 
the kind. 

" Had it ever happened that an outside enemy — I will not 
say nation — had ever touched the hem of our national garment 
with evil intent, we would have seen a grand exhibition of his 
patriotism. Brother fighting brother — Damon Avarri no- with 
Pythias — was a different thing. But I stop. I lay this small 
oblation upon the altar erected to his memory. He was all I 
have said ; he was even more." 

The Peess ox Mr. Vallandigham's Death. 

[From the Boston Post] 

^ With eminent abilities, a rarely cultured mind, fluent im- 
agination, courageous, and aspiring to the highest distinction, 
because conscious of his capacity if he attained them, the last 
utterance almost of Yallandigham was for the glory and gran- 
deur of the Union. 

[From the Chicago Tribune.] 

The sudden and shocking death of Mr. Vallandigham has 
produced an unusual sensation in all parts of the country. 
Since the death of Douglass he has been more generally ac- 
knoAvledged and looked up to as the leader of the Democratic 
party, than any other man 

That he was opposed originally to the acts of secession, 
there can be no doubt ; and the man's honesty was never shown 
more clearly than in the flict that, though intensely opposed to 
the war, he felt bound, upon principle, to vote all the men and 
money demanded by the Government to prosecute the war, so 
long as it was sustained by the people. 

^ Mr. Vallandigham was.no demagogue. He did not sail 
with the wind. AVhen he considered he was right, no power 
could move him ; and neither the rage of opposition nor the 
a])peals of friends could cause him to abandon his position. 
He M-as a man of ability fir above the gencrnl average, and 
greatly in advance of any man now prominent in the Demo- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 559 

cratic party. He was one of the best public speakers in the 
country, and it cannot be doubted that if he had lived in a 
different time, he would have attained high official position. 
In private life, and in all his relations with his fellow-men, 
Mr. Vallandigham was a gentleman — cultivated, kind, warm- 
hearted, and generous. His death leaves a very large gap in 
the party to which he belonged. 

[From the Cincinnati Volksblatt.] 

A stormy and eventful life has suddenly been cut short. 
With unexpected quickness, and without the faintest premoni- 
tion, the inexorable fates have snapped asunder the thread of 
life of a man in his most vigorous manhood and in the midst 
of a most hopeful career. As a meteor shoots through the sky 
and vanishes, as a mighty tree, seized by a roaring whirlwind, 
is uprooted and sinks to the earth with a crash, so rapidly and 
so mightily did C. L. Vallandigham sink into the cold arms 
of death. 

Judge of Mr. Vallandigham's political past as you will 
... no dark stain cleaves to his private character or his social 
position. Even his bitterest enemies could not help recognis- 
ing his strict honesty, incorruptible integrity, and his open and 
straightforward disposition ; M'hile his moral courage, his emin- 
ent mental qualities, his burning eloquence, and his courteous 
and polished demeanor, placed him in the foremost rank of the 
great men of the present day. 

[From the Cincinnati Volksfre^lnd.] 

Vallandigham, in character as well as talents, stood far 
above the ordinary level of latter-day politicians. He possessed 
what most would-be statesmen, who employ the arts of pliancy 
and oiliness, want, viz : an indomitable courage, and manly 
pride enough not to disavow himself at any price in any con- 
dition of life. He possessed magnanimity enough to admit 
errors, and to endeavor to correct them ; but whenever he felt 
he Avas right, he would not yield an inch, even to the strongest 
antagonist. It is the cowards that cherish rancor, but the 
courageous forgive and forget, as Vallandigham has shown by 
his conciliatory course. 



560 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

[From the N Y. Sun.] 

The voice of religion teaches that no man dies too soon or 
too hitc ; but much as we believe this, the demise of Clement 
L. Yallandigham is none the less sudden, and to his friends 
most painful. His friends were many, even among his life- 
long political opponents; his enemies r.'ere few, even in his 
own party. A conspicuous figure ever since his first appear- 
ance upon the stage of political affairs, he was never so con- 
spicuous as at the moment of his death, nor ever before had 
such power of being useful to his country. 

Next, he was a man of courage, never hesitating to utter 
his opinions or shrinking from their defence. This noble 
quality was impressively exhibited in the last great act of his 
life, when he came forward to direct the Democracy in the 
new departure, unsaying his own old ideas, and advocating a 
policy he had before resisted. 

He had an intense, ardent temperament ; and his intellect, 
not so original or so massive, or in itself so powerful, as that 
of some others, was yet capable of most efficient work under 
the prompting of his vigorous, sleepless nature. He Mas gen- 
erous, unpretending, kindly, true to his friends ; and those who 
knew him were apt to like him. It was his ambition to be- 
come a Senator of the United States, and that desire is now 
over with him forever. But his mind will continue on tacit 
our politics long after his grave is closed ; and if the Democracy 
continue, as they doubtless will, to follow the ^^ath into which 
he has led them, they will owe what success they may gain 
first of all to the foresight, the wisdom, and the firmness of 
Vallandigham . 

[From the Cincinnati Enquirer., June 18.] 

It was with emotions of unutterable sorrow that we chronicled 
yesterday the fatal accident to the Hon. C. L. Yallandigham, 
at Lebanon, Ohio. So sudden and overwhelming was it that 
we yet can hardly realise its truth. But yesterday, in the 
pride of vigorous health and the prime of manhood, a fine 
specimen of the physical as well as the intellectual man, with 
every appearance about him of longevity, he has fallen, and a 
melancholy tragedy has closed a character and a career that 
will never be forgotten in this country. Since the death of 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 561 

President Lincoln, in 1865, no demise of any individual has 
created so great and universal a sorrow. The deceased was so 
extraordinary a man, and had had such a stormy political life, 
that his death at any time would have been a marked event ; 
but occurring under the circumstances it did, it has invested it 
with the deepest historical interest and sad pathos. He may 
well be called a martyr to his profession. His zeal and enthu- 
siasm for his client, who was being tried for his life, has cost 
him his own. No lawyer has ever erected a more splendid 
monument to the devotion and fidelity which should charac- 
terise the relations of counsel than he has by this sad catas- 
trophe. No sentinel perishing at his post, no physician falling a 
victim to his efforts to save his patients, ever died in a more 
heroic and worthy manner. The bar of Ohio, of which he 
was a distinguished ornament, owe it to the profession to take a 
fitting and proper notice of this dreadful tragedy. Since all 
that is mortal of Mr. Yallandigham has gone, since party 
feelings of resentment and personal jealousies can have no 
further cause for action, we may contemplate him more impar- 
tially and judge of those great abilities which made him famous 
among men. 

Whatever may be said of Mr. Yallandigham, who had his 
faults, none ever doubted his great brain-power — his superb 
intellectual attainments. In this he used no economy. Once 
enlisted in a cause, he devoted himself entirely to its accom- 
plishment with remarkable enthusiasm. Had he not been en- 
dowed by nature with more than is usually accorded to men, 
his drafts upon his mental treasury would have seriously im- 
paired its integrity. 

The man was conscious of his own rectitude, and very many 
parallels may be found where unpopularity, as in his case, 
was the result of an unappreciating public, for he could not be 
called a popular man in the sense that public men are now 
viewed. The elements of his intellectual power were these: 
He had an iron will and an unconquerable resolution. He 
had an energy that never slacked, and always challenged ad- 
miration. His industry was untiring and most indomitable. 
He had patience and perseverance, and perfect self-control. 
Originally receiving a good education, it had been assiduously 
improved by study and reflection. He had one of tiie best and 
most finely selected libraries in the State of Ohio, and of its 

36 



562 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

treasures his wonderful memory had made him master. Wc 
have seldom met a man who had read history so attentively 
and thoroughly, and whose recollection of it could be so im- 
plicitly trusted. His mind was logical in its composition, and 
his perceptions of a point were always clear. There was a 
vigorous and forcible masculinity about his intellect that struck 
every one who was brought in contact with him. He had the 
ability to unite the qualifications of the lawyer with the states- 
man and with the popular orator, and he excelled, like S. S. 
Prentiss, of Mississippi, in all of them. He had fine imagina- 
tive powers, and his speeches are thickly strewn with rhetorical 
beauties that are never found in the efforts of the mere political 
man. 

Ferociously assailed and denounced as no other man of 
his day and generation had been, there are few men who will 
not, when they look at the matter dispassionately, fail to give 
him credit for honesty and sincerity. He espoused during the 
war the weak side. He combatted popular passion and pre- 
judice, and risked his life, his property and character in behalf 
of what he considered right. Had he been a venal and corrupt 
or an unprincipled man, he would have gone with the current, 
and obtained political honor and distinction instead of obloquy 
and reproach. It is to be regretted that more of our political 
men have not, as he had,' the heroism to maintain an honest 
opinion, even at the expense of their popularity. 

Socially he had great and commanding traits. There was 
a magnetism about him that drew toward him the good-will and 
affection of hosts of friends. No man in the State, even when 
he was generally under the ban of public opinion, had a greater 
number of personal adherents who would have stood by him 
under any and all circumstances. 

In the course of his active and varied career it was often 
the fortune of the Avriter of this article to dilffer with him, and 
sometimes warmly and vehemently, upon party and individual 
policy. But we never failed to recognise the many splendid 
qualities that he possessed ; and in the most trying season of 
his life, when he was brought to this city by General Burnside's 
order, in 1863, and the question was whether death or im- 
prisonment should be liis lot, we arc proud to know that he re- 
cognised in a warm manner our humble efforts in his behalf. 
It is now to us a great satisfaction that just before the late State 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLAjSTDIGHAM. 563 

Convention we saw him at Columbus and had a most cordial 
and friendly interview with him, and there finally disposed of 
any alienation or misunderstanding, if upon cither side it had 
previously existed. 

Little did we think as we bade him adieu that we were 
never to see him again in this world, that our eyes should 
never have another glance at his manly form. In one respect 
he was fortunate. Recent events and the modifying hand of 
time have soothed and obliterated much of the animosity which 
existed against him, and there is a kinder disposition to do 
justice than ever before, and he will be followed to his grave by 
the regrets of those who were lately his antagonists. 

To the Democratic party of Ohio, to whom he had given 
a quarter of a century of vigorous and distinguished service, 
his loss is almost irreparable, especially now when we are in 
a campaign the issues of which he had so strongly marked out 
and traced, and which he was expected to uphold and defend 
with his usual ability. AYe feel assured that those who were 
the most opposed to the 'new departure' will deeply lament 
this untoward accident, and that their hearts will well out in 
sympathy with the sad fate of our distinguished leader. A 
thousand indescribable recollections of the past will rise in the 
hearts of his Democratic party friends who have stood by him 
through good and evil report, and melancholy will be the con- 
victions that no longer shall they listen to his clarion voice nor 
hear his bugle-blast of defiance to the enemy. From the river 
to the lakes, and from Pennsylvania to Indiana, there will be 
an outburst of grief from thousands of stout hearts, which 
during the excited and heated contests of the last few years had 
been drawn toward him by the strong tie of mutual feeling, 
and by their admiration of liis talents and heroic bravery. 

Mr. Yallandigham was an ambitious man, but his ambition 
was of an elevated and noble kind. The stroke of fate has 
fallen upon him when apparently the sunlight of prosperity 
was about to descend upon his head, and when his chances were 
fair of gaining a life-long coveted distinction. 

During the late canvass in Ohio the following eulogy was 
pronounced by the Hon. George H. Pendleton : — 

''Who can commence the discussion of political questions 



564 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

without being carried involuntarily to that scene of anguish 
and death which so lately clothed our party, our State, and our 
country in mourning ? 

'The silver cord is loosened; the golden bowl broken.' 

The voice that spoke so eloquently and so well is stilled. 
The intellect Avliich thought so truly exerts its powers on other 
subjects, in other spheres. The strong, brave heart beats not 
to the conflicts of time. When I think of this I feel that we 
might imitate the captives of Judea, who by the waters of 
Babylon hung their harps on the willows, and sat down and 
wept when they remembered Zion. I did not know Mr. Val- 
landigham so long perhaps as many of you, but I knew him 
very well. During his whole service in Congress I was his 
colleague. During the eventful sessions of 1861-62-63 I was 
his daily associate and intimate friend. During the day of his 
arrest, and trial and imprisonment, I saw him at every hour 
that it was possible, and did what I could to mitigate the jjain 
which an infamous tyranny inflicted. In all those times of 
anxiety and care and suffering I never heard from his lips one 
word inconsistent with the loftiest patriotism, the most unfalter- 
ing hope, and the most unblenching courage. You know he 
was able, and eloquent, and self-reliant, and studious ; that he 
had great strength of will and force of character, and that 
magnetism which attracted and attached men closely to him. 
He was also cool and deliberate and j)atient. Beyond most 
men whom I have known he was sensitive to attacks upon the 
purity of his motives and character. I have seen him wounded 
to the quick — his heart lacerated until it seemed too sore to 
touch, and bleeding his life away — by the vindictive, savage 
abuse so unsparingly heaped upon him during the war. Never 
were attacks more unjust and infamous. No man loved his 
country more intensely, and sought for the wisest policy more 
conscientiously, or would have sacrificed more readily or more 
abundantly health and strength and fortune, and even preju- 
dices and preconceived opinions, to secure its welfare. He 
would have been a war man if he could have believed that 
war would restore the Union. He would have been a devoted 
supporter of the Republican party if he could have believed 
its policy would have maintained the guarantees of liberty 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 565 

afforded by our Constitution. As he could not believe this, 
he would not swerve from the conviction of the ' faith that was 
in him/ even though his heart should bleed and break at the 
blind misconstruction of his character and the wilful perver- 
sion of his words and aspersion of his motives. I thank God 
he has lived long enough to see that Time, the avenger in 
whom he had such unwavering faith, has commenced his work, 
and that many who had maligned him most were beginning to 
see their error and to do him justice. I thank God that at 
the last the sun penetrated the darkness of the night, and that 
his eye saw, even though only for a moment, the mist of the 
morning dissolving before its radiant beams. And if it be 
given to men who have gone hence to care for or to know the 
estimation in which they are held on earth, I know his spirit 
will be gladdened by the fact that all his countrymen, without 
dissent, will believe that he was as pure as he was able, as 
lionest as he was brave, and as faithful as he was persecuted." 

The following recollections of Mr. Vallandigham are from 
the pen of S. W. Gilson, Esq., of Cantield, Ohio. Mr. Gilson 
was at college with Mr. Vallandigham, afterwards studied law 
in his office, and during his life was a warm political and per- 
sonal friend. After speaking of Mr. Vallandigham's course 
at college, and giving substantially the same account as has 
.already been given by Dr. F. T. Brown and the Hon. S. 
Clemens, Mr. Gilson says : — 

" After he left college I knew nothing more of him for 
some years until after I graduated. Then I came to Ohio, to 
Columbiana County, and commenced teaching a select clas- 
sical school, and at the same time I commenced the study 
of law with Mr. Vallandigham, then in ])ractice in New- 
Lisbon, Ohio, and in his office I prosecuted my study until 
I was admitted in the spring of 1846. During the time I read 
with him, whilst he gave proper attention to his practice and 
the law connected Avith his cases, and prosecuted his profession 
with all the ardor which constituted the soul of his being, still 
he seemed inclined to study politics with full as much zeal 



566 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

and so continued until within three or four years of the un- 
fortunate termination of his brief but imperishable career, when 
he devoted his whole energy to his profession and practice, and 
had become one of the first laAvyers of Ohio, always preserving 
his integrity and high character as a membe^ of the bar. and 
commanding the respect of all. 

" Soon after I commenced study with him he was elected 
to the Legislature of Ohio, and although young, whilst in that 
body he occupied a standing and position amongst the first 
members therein — always in his place, giving constant atten- 
tion to the progress of legislation, and commanding the respect 
of his fellow-members, irrespective of party, by his well- 
expressed and consistent views of all the subjects of discussion 
and legislation. 

"As a statesman he was well entitled to be ranked amongst 
the first in our nation. Learned as he was in all the liistory 
of the past; familiar with the rise, progress, decline, and down- 
fall of the nations that had jiassed away in the world's his- 
tory, tracing with care, as he did, through the pages of history 
the causes that contributed to their greatness, grandeur, and 
glory, and the elements which in revolving years wrought their 
ruin : he could well declare the principles essential to the per- 
petuity of our free institutions. When a member of Congress, 
he well sustained himself as a debater and iDarliamentarian, 
and the sjiceches by him delivered during that time compare 
well with those of the best statesmen of England or America, 
and will live with those of Pitt and Burke and Fox of the old 
w^orld, and Webster, Clay, and Calhoun of the new. 

" Lastly, as a popular speaker in campaigns he had no su- 
perior in Ohio. I was with him much through the south and 
west of Ohio during the campaign when Thurman was a can- 
didate for Governor, and I have never seen any speaker who 
could so long and so well hold an audience through an address. 
His manner of speaking on the ' stump ' as well as elsewhere, 
Wis i^recise, calm, and dignified, speaking for hours without 
making a blunder, without violating a rule in grammar or 
rhetoric or logic. At times his address was characterised with 
extreme severity, but always chaste, classical, and dignified. 
Had he lived in this campaign, he would surely have been the 
most important character therein, and would have contributed 
much by hi-s efforts to have enabled the Democracy to carry 



LIFE OP CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM; 567 

Ohio for constitutional liberty, law, and order, and against 
Radicalism, fraud, and corruption. But ho is gone, just when 
his work seemed to be half done. AVould that ho had lived 
for another score of years ; for surely I would have seen him 
in that time occujjy the highest position in the gift of the 
American people. Bravely had he fought through long years 
and against organised opjiosition; and though the dark night 
of the war had been long and the storms has been strong, yet 
he had never furled the rainbow flag of Democratic principles, 
of constitutional liberty. And surely he who had 'launched 
his barque for the skies ' would never have become the ' drift- 
wood of the world,' but would have advanced from one degree 
of honor to another, until at last he would have stood on the 
mountain height where ' Fame's proud temple shines afar.' 
Proud, because his nation was great and glorious : ' but now, 
alas ! of all things the reverse : earth has become his winding- 
sheet, and darkness palls the hearse.' 

We close with the following tribute from the pen of the 
Hon. James W. Wall, formerly United States Senator- from 
the State of New Jersey, and a warm political and personal 
friend : — 

" Clement L. Yallandigham. 

"The announcement of the sudden death of this distin- 
guished citizen of Ohio fell on Saturday upon startled commu- 
nities everywhere within reach of telegraphic communication, 
as if they had heard a loud thunder-peal in a cloudless sky. 
In New York, as the bulletins announced ' Vallandigham 
Dead,' crowds gathered about them, and the words of deep 
sorrow that could be lieard on all sides, testified that a great 
and good man had 2)assed away from earth. 

" Never did the force of the text, * What is your life : it is 
even a vapor that appearcth for a little and then vanisheth 
away,' strike us more solemnly than when we read the an- 
nouncement of our friend's sudden death. It was only a few 
weeks ago that we were with him in New York, discussing to- 
gether the points of the platform which has since caused so 
much excitement under the misnomer of 'The New Departure.' 
He was in full robust strength, his eyes flashing with intellec- 



568 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

tual fire, and liis cheek glowed with the ruddiest hues of health. 
As we parted from him we said : ' Be careful you do not fail, 
for failure now would be fatal ; ' and the answer came back in 
those full and old familiar tones : '■ I know no such word as 
fail, for it finds no place in my dictionary. I shall fight the 
coming contest in Ohio with an earnestness and determination 
such as I have never exhibited before, and I rely upon your 
promise "to come over and help us." ' But, alas for the vanity 
of all human expectations and human projects! — the strong 
man, with twenty-five years of vigorous life in hinij whose con- 
stitution never had been impaired by the excesses that overthrow 
so many, and who uttered these brave Avords, to-day lies clothed 
in the garments of the tomb, a shrouded corpse in the midst 
of that once happy home in Dayton where he was so long the 
light and glory. 

"In the intercourse of life we sometimes, though rarely, 
find men admirable for their social qualities, for a clear and 
vigorous intellect, and for rare integrity and moral worth com- 
bined. Very pleasant is the friendship and society of such 
men, and their loss by death is a sad calamity. They are be- 
loved, respected, admired, and illustrious, and never in vain 
do they live, or fail when dead to leave behind them an in- 
fluence for good. Some men have great influence, and are 
superior because they have the natural endowments of a strong 
will and weighty force of character. Some are admired for 
their splendid genius, intellect, and high culture; some for 
social and others for moral gifts and graces. But the best con- 
ceivable type of character will combine the strength of a power- 
ful understanding and a firm, reliant will, with the beauty of 
a true and loving nature, carrying with it, as such nature al- 
ways does, kindness, benevolence, sympathy, and warm affec- 
tions. All these met and were harmoniously blended in the 
character of Mr. Vallandigham. In all his life-work, never 
did human being more thoroughly carry out the counsel of 
David to Solomon : *■ Show thyself a man.' It was illustrated 
in both his private and his public walk. Conscious ever of 
the rectitude of his intentions, he possessed all the courage that 
generally accompanies the sense of right, and nothing ever 
deterred him from the jmblic exj^ression of his honest opinions, 
leaving the consequences to The Great Disposer of events. . . . 

" Mr. Vallandigham was early called into public life, and 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDiaHAM, 569 

he at once took high rank In the Legislature of his native 
State as a vigorous and polished debater. Upon entering the 
halls of Congress he leaped at one bound to the position of a 
leader. His^ first speech was listened to with rapt attention 
and undisguised admiration. During Its delivery the House 
was hushed to an unwonted stillness, and the whisper went 
round the halls and galleries, *Who is that graceful and 
earnest speaker ? ' After that memorable day the announce- 
ment anywhere in the Capitol, ' Vallandigham has the floor,' 
was sure to empty the Senate chamber, the Supreme Court, 
and all the hiding-places and recesses of the building. During 
the war, side by side with Cox, Voorhees, Pendleton, and May, 
he vainly attempted to protect the constitutional outposts from 
being driven In, and save the country from drifting into those 
swelling and treacherous rapids that are ever hurrying on to 
the great maelstrom of centralisation. 

"Throughout the whole of that fierce struggle he never 
uttered a Avord or evolved a proposition that did not spring 
from a spirit of the most self-sacrificing devoted patriotism. 
AVe challenge a denial of this assertion, and dare an}^ wretched 
libeller of the dead statesman to jiut his finger upon a sino-le 
sentiment of his that Washington, Madison, and Jay might not 
have uttered. With a thorough knowledge of the Constitution, 
and a soul devoted to Its preservation, he sacrificed all hopes 
of political advancement because he would not and could not 
sanction doctrines that have since been stamped as infamous 
by the supreme tribunal of the nation. He had an undying 
attachment to the Union of these States as equal and indepen- 
dent sovereignties, was strong In that patriotism which made 
him love his country even before himself, and well might have 
exclaimed with the greatest and jjurest of the Eomaus : — 

' I am the son of Marcus Cato, 
A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend.' 

" His loss to-day to the country is immense, for it lias torn 
from her, while in the full maturity and strength of his o-reat 
powers, anotlier of that little band of unselfish, unsullied hearts 
that worshipped her for herself alone, and not for the honors 
or emoluments she had to bestow. His loss to Ohio and the 
Democracy of that gallant State is Irreparable. There is no one 



570 LIFE OF CLEMENT L, VALLANDIGHAM. 

left that can fill the place made void by his lamented and aw- 
fully sudden death. As the present Governor said to a friend 
of the writer of this, ' Vallandigham was a most powerful man 
to contend against in a popular canvass. His resources are 
immense and varied, while he exercises a most magnetic in- 
fluence over the crowds that flock to hear him, and who are 
carried away by liis eloquence. In invective and withering 
sarcasm he has not his superior in the State, and I doubt very 
much whether he has out of it.' This is a tribute from a geri- 
crous political foe, and from one who found in him ' a foeman 
worthy of his steel.' 

" We have seen him at large political gatherings, when by 
the magic of his potent eloquence he made ' men to be of one 
mind,' and swayed them as if they were influenced by one 
supreme will. He was always a man of such dignity and pro- 
priety of manners before an audience as to at once impress it 
with the importance of his subject and the occasion. He never 
told stories for the purjjose of causing laughter — he was too 
full of mental resources for that. He might illustrate a point 
of his speech by an occasional anecdote, but this was very rare ; 
and he ever adhered strictly to the truth when dealing with the 
record and doctrines of the oj^posite joarty. As he always said, 
' It is grossly insulting to an audience to lie to them about even 
their enemies. Truth always is the measure of wrath that 
should be dealt out to the opposition.' He ever entrenched 
himself behind truth, and from that battery shot forth the 
mighty missiles of his brain. The tones of his musical voice 
Avere full, round and distinct ; and large as was the crowd, his 
every word could be heard with facility at its outermost verge. 
His eye was expressive and most penetrating in its power when 
under excitement ; and his ' glance was stern and high ' when 
he was depicting in his own graphic way the wrongs and out- 
rages committed by the infamous Lincoln administration uj)on 
the freedom of the citizen and the rights of free speech and a 
free press. The minions of arbitrary power quailed before the 
lightning of his glance, as well they might. They could not 
stand up before the potency of his rebuke; and as all tyrants 
and their minions have done in every age, they tried to break 
his spirit by imprisonment and banishment, but in vain. 

"... With all the wrong and outrage inflicted ujjon the 
subject of our sketch, thank God he lived long enough to find 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 571 

tliat time had brought along some of its revenges ; he lived 
long enough to hear the loftiest judges of the land, those ap- 
pointed by Lincoln himself, by a solemn decision pronounce his 
persecutors 'usurpers of power and invaders of the public 
liberty/ There never lived since the days of Sydney a more 
earnest, eloquent and devoted champion of civil liberty, and 
at the same time a more humble and obedient servant to the 
law, when constitutionally administered, than Clement L. Val- 
landigham. 

" Tlie crowd of citizens of all parties who gathered in Dayton 
to pay the last sad tribute of respect to the memory of Ohio's 
great statesman, was a most eloquent commentary upon the 
madness and injustice which made life's experience so bitter 
to the living jiatriot. The stern hand of death appears to have 
torn asunder the veil which so long concealed the grand pro- 
portions of the man from so many eyes ; and he now stands re- 
vealed, and will go down to posterity, as the pure, unselfish and 
incorruptible patriot that he really was. 

" His life-work is done, and these earthly acclamations and 
tributes cannot reach him on that far-off shore whither he has 
gone. Amid the blessed realities of eternity he cares not for 
them ; but to us who remain, who loved him living and mourn 
him dead, these tributes are exceedingly precious. They are 
precious as the costly myrrh and spikenard that were cast into 
the Roman funeral-pyre. They reveal to us how unjust were 
the passions and prejudices of the hour when he was hounded 
almost to his death, and bear most eloquent witness to the great 
and intrinsic worth of the man thus cruelly persecuted. Death 
was the ' Ithuriel spear' that touched him and revealed him to 
the world in his true character as a man and a patriot. It was 
not, it is true, the reward looked for, and that was to compen- 
sate 

' The patient search and vigil long 
Of him who treasures up a wrong,' 

to use the words he was so fond of quoting from his favorite 
Mazeppa; but it was something infinitely purer and holier: 
the tribute, not wrung from the result of earthly passion and 
the fruition of revenge, but the result of the illumination of 
the God-like truth that filled the breasts of that mourning 
multitude — suddenly and potent, and we speak it with all re- 



572 LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

verence, as that ' light like unto noon-day ' which flashed around 
the stricken Saul as he fell prostrate, conscious of all the wrongs 
and outrages he had been guilty of as a persecutor of the saints. 

" His friend Groesbeck struck the key-note of Vallaudig- 
ham's patriotism when he said at the bar meeting : 

" ' I dare not think of this man as anything but j)atriotic. 
No man could have questioned his patriotism, his love for the 
whole country. Had a foreign foe dared to touch merely the 
outside hem of the garment of the country, you would have 
had from him such an exhibition of patriotism as would have 
kindled you with new fire. But this M'ar of States, this Damon 
and Pythias quarrel, he deprecated and could not understand, 
for he loved both North and South alike with his whole heart.' 

" Oh, how true all this is ! His j)atriotism had no sec- 
tionalism about it. It was not hemmed in by State lines, but 
beat responsive to a universal love. He strongly felt as 
regards both North and South, 'We all are brethren.' His 
deep historic research, more marked in him than in any other 
man we ever knew, had revealed to him the accumulated and 
accursed horrors of civil strife. How often have we conversed 
with him over those passages of Lucan in his Pharsalia bearing 
upon the fiercest civil struggle of ancient Rome. In that poem 
the atrocities of the INIarian civil war are brought prominently 
forward in the narrative. The beautiful, cold, classic mytho- 
logy has there no place. The supreme powers that hover over 
the scene of slaughter arc the local deified men and heroes, and 
the evil spirits of the country. The ghost of Sylla rises in the 
field of Mars, and the dead Marius is seen to break open his 
sepulchre on the banks of the Arno. A corpse is taken from 
the field of death, the spirit forced to re-enter it and tell what 
it has seen. The tortured ghost beholds Cincinnatus, the 
Decii and the Curii patriots of Rome weeping and wailing, 
while Marius and Cataline are seen bursting their chains and 
shouting applause. He often commented on this vision of the 
poet, and declared that it rose before him in all its ghastly 
horror every time he read an account of the meeting of North 
and South on bloody battle-fields. He struggled with all the 
ardor and energy of his nature toward oif the fearful collision; 
and when it came, he was continually for extending the olive- 
branch Avhenever an opportunity oifered. Let no Avretched 
speculator w'ho was turning the blood and bones of his slaugh- 



LIFE OF CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAlVr. 573 

tered countrymen to jirofit, dare to question the sincerity of 
his motives. 

" The blessings and the inheritance promised to the peace- 
makers in Holy Writ are his to-day, and he can gaze with 
serene pity from the blessed abodes where he rests, ui)on the 
Pharisaical and narrow souls of such malignants. When he 
felt that the hem of his country's garment had been trodden 
upon by a foreign foe, as in the Trent aifair, he was the first 
to resent it; but the cowardly souls of those who were coining 
fortunes out of their country's woes, shrank back affrighted from 
the proposition, preferring to humiliate themselves and country 
before a foreign foe sooner than hazard the close of a civil 
strife where that country's loss was their gain. Death at last 
canonised the man. He fell with his harness on, and as General 
McCook remarked, ' it clanged when he fell.' He is now far 
beyond the reach of the praise of his friends or the censure 
of his foes; but as years roll on, his public fame shall brighten 
more and more, while the memory of his vile detractors and 
persecutors will have perished from the earth. 

" Thus much and more we could have written of the public 
man. AYhen as a friend we come to speak of his heart, we 
falter and break down. We cannot praise him without tears. 
His friendship was not lightly given, but when once given it 
could not be too dearly jDrized. A brave heart is always kind. 
When he had quietly and carefully tried any one, studied his 
character and found him not wanting, but steadfast and true, 
he never wavered in his friendship. A perfect gentleman in 
the instinctive caution about interfering in anything Avhatever 
that did not concern him ; yet on all suitable occasions, csjieci- 
ally in the hour of trial, he showed a steadiness of friendship 
and a firmness of confidence that shone over the darkness and 
storms of life like the rays of the beacon to the worn-out 
mariner. For ourselves, as we remember the pleasant hours 
of the past, we can only close in those sweetly touching lines 
of Tennyson : — 

'We weep a loss forever new, 

A void where heart on heart reposed ,•• 
And wlere warm hands have pressed and closed — 
Silence till %ce be silent too. 

'We weep the comrade of our choice, 
An awful thought, a life removed, 
The human-hearted man we loved, 
A spirit, not a breathing voice.'" 



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